


Of Fire and Ice: The Children of Agni

by SpamMusubiii



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Action Dueling, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Crossover, Family, Gen, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:49:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24022384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpamMusubiii/pseuds/SpamMusubiii
Summary: The Fire Nation royal siblings are reborn into the Todoroki Family. How would things work out for the both of them as they eventually cross paths with former friends and enemies?
Relationships: Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Todoroki Enji | Endeavor & Todoroki Shouto
Comments: 22
Kudos: 161
Collections: Reincarnation and Transmigration





	1. Origin

She was only three years of age when everything started to finally make sense to her. Although she was still developing her cognitive abilities, she already figured everything out. She wasn't in the Fire Nation or at least in the world she used to live in. Is this the future? Is she in an alternate dimension? She quite didn't know that yet, but she was well aware of the fact that she was reborn into a life that was far from her own.

More importantly, she realized that she wasn't alone in this. Zuko was here too. Although their parents were different now and they also had three other siblings, she didn't care about that at all. In her previous life, her family was dysfunctional to say the least. She greatly hoped that this one isn't.

She considered it to be a miracle when she and Zuko, despite all odds, were still together in this. She admitted that they didn't really have a decent relationship back then, but she felt relieved and thankful that he was still here. Does he know it already too? Would he even remember his past life like she did? She hoped he does eventually. This quite doesn't feel like reality at all, but she'll take it.

It also turned out, that she and Zuko were exactly the same age. Her current mother, Rei, gave birth to triplets whom she named Shouto, Zenkou, and Asaki. She and her brother also didn't exactly look the same as they were before. Both Azula and Zuko were able to retain their golden eyes and the same facial features from their previous life. Their parents primarily attributed this to a possible genetic mutation. Both Zuko and Azula didn't look like any of them. Going back, the only reason why they looked so drastically different is because of their hair color, which is a mixture from both of their parents. Azula predominantly has red hair with two streaks of white highlights framing her face. Zuko on the other hand, has dark, red hair from the roots that gradually fades into a snow-white color towards the ends. Their other twin, Shouto, has red hair on his left side and has white on his right. Although his eyes were different from theirs for he had heterochromia; which meant that he had blue eye on the left and gray on the right.

It took time for her to completely understand things about the world that they currently live in. Apparently, her father is what people around here would call a "hero." What even shocked her is that they were ranked accordingly. It surprised her to find out that her father was currently the second-best hero. Next, what she used to call "bending" are now called "quirks." From her observation, her father is practically identical to a firebender. Her mother on the other hand, who is able to generate ice, is what she would consider to be a waterbender. She wondered what her quirk would be? Will she still be able to bend fire? Is she going to have have an ice quirk like her mother? Well, she couldn't wait for it. She was three years old now, and they told her that quirks are supposed to come around before you turn four.

She momentarily stopped thinking about her quirk when Zuko finally called her by her real name. It's as if a weight was lifted off her chest when she found out that he remembered everything too. She was glad that he wasn't mad at her at all. But of course, she didn't admit that out loud. Also, Zuko isn't one to hold a grudge. He too, was thankful to have his sister around. Although he still did not let his guard down for he knows what Azula is capable of. She still kept her old personality, but it's been slightly watered down as compared to what it was before. Azula was a still a perfectionist, that's one. Sometimes, she still manipulates people to get what she wants, although it frustrates her that Zuko doesn't seem to tolerate that anymore. She also remained to be the calculating person that she was, highly competitive and over-confident in every aspect. This made Enji favor her the most alongside Shoto.

Behind all that, Zuko saw an opening for her to change. He saw a glimpse of hope in his sister. This time around, he was very eager to make things right.

Alas, the time has finally come. The triplets all had their quirks show up a week before their fourth birthday. Firstly, Shouto was able to generate both fire and ice, which is logical as it should be. As for Azula, she was able to retain her blue fire as well as her lightning even at a very young age, which impressed her a lot. As an additional bonus, she also inherited a quirk from her mother, although it was not as strong as Shouto's. As for Zuko, he was also able to retain his fire. In addition to that, he gained a new quirk which is called "thermal mapping," an ability wherein you can see everything in your surroundings by quantifying the distribution of temperature differences. Like Azula, he also inherited Rei's quirk to a lesser extent as compared to Shouto's.

Enji could never have been more proud to see all his triplets have such powerful quirks. With this, he began to train them all equally.

From that day onwards, the triplets have trained vigorously six times in a week for twelve years straight. Azula was stunned to see her quirk evolve as time went on. From only being able to generate mere lightning, she was also able to control and manipulate the charge of the particles around her. As a result, she is now capable of creating force fields which can help her protect herself from various forms of attacks. While Azula focused on her lightning more, Zuko strengthened his fire to the point where he now wields blue-violet flames. This particular color emits the hottest temperature based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Basically, he had surpassed Azula in terms of firebending. Moreover, his "thermal mapping" is now more refined than ever. His thermal vision extended farther to a one kilometer radius, which is considered effective for stealth attacks.

Although things couldn't have looked any better for the three of them, things aren't supposed to be always perfect as they seem to be. Azula should've never hoped for this family to be any different from her own because as much as it hurts to admit, she was wrong. She thought she had a chance back then.

When they were just about five years old, their mother despised them all for becoming too much like their father. It almost felt the same when she heard Ursa call her a monster. She could almost incessantly hear Ursa's voice in her head, constantly asking, _"What is wrong with that child?"_

Unfortunately, all three of them shared a common thing with one another. It was a souvenir from their mother, a permanent scar. The boiling water which Rei mindlessly threw at the three of them directly landed onto the left side of Shouto's face, while some of it splashed onto the entirety of Zuko's left shoulder. Luckily enough, Azula took the minimal hit because only her forearms got burnt.

This was the reason why Zuko's and Azula's ice quirks were barely in the picture during their years of training. Zuko only used it minimally simply because he still preferred his fire. On the other hand, Shouto and Azula were two polar opposites, he refused to use his left while Azula refused to use the quirk she got from her mother. Shouto sympathized with Rei while Azula strongly resented her just like Ursa. They couldn't blame her for that because Azula received the most hate from their mother. Although fear is a more accurate term for it, that's just innately the way Azula viewed and understood things.

The reason is because prior to that previous incident, Azula was involved in another one. While she was training alone in their courtyard at home, she accidentally shot lightning at their eldest sister, Fuyumi. She just walked in out of a sudden and Azula didn't saw her coming. She didn't anticipate any of it.

_"Onee-chan!" She ran towards her sister and knelt beside her. "Onee-chan, wake up! Please!" Azula shook Fuyumi's body in desperation, but she wouldn't move. Weirdly enough, Azula wasn't crying, at all. That's what scared Rei off the most, it appeared to her that Asaki wrongly lacked the empathy of a normal child. She saw that Asaki was only pretending to be concerned because she wouldn't want to face the repercussions that came with her actions._

_"Asaki! What have you done?!" Her mother exclaimed. Her eyes were bulging out wide with fear and anguish. "Get out from here this instant! Get out!" Rei screamed in agony._

Luckily, Fuyumi recovered and after their mother threw boiling water at them, she was sent into an institution for good. They never saw her again afterwards.

* * *

Even if Shouto wasn't a part of their previous life, he is their brother now technically, so they genuinely treated him like one of their own. Aside from that, Azula and Zuko's bond also have never been stronger than ever before. But because of what went down in their childhood, Shouto and Azula would often get into a fight while Zuko was always the one to intervene.

"Stop being such a fool, Shouto. You can't solely blame dad for your scar, it was both their fault. If mom really loved us, she would've never said those words. She would've never done that." Azula contested.

"Don't lecture me on that matter, Asaki. We all know too well that the reason why mom became like that to us is because of dad." Shouto responded.

"At least he cared more about us than Rei ever did!" Azula retorted.

"What?! No!" Shouto scoffed, "Are you blind, Asaki? Dad only cared about us because we're mere pawns in his own game! He only wants us to fulfill his ambition of surpassing All-Might!"

"Asaki, I think Shouto's right. I think it should be pretty obvious now that dad's clearly using us." Zuko agreed.

Azula couldn't believe what she was hearing. No, they were all wrong. While her own mother couldn't even forgive her for that accident she had caused, her father was there to defend her. Her father consoled her through those hard times. Again, she was someone's precious, little prodigy and it hits too close to home.

Azula glared at them both before she stormed out of the room, leaving a force field on her way out that blocked the doorway, so that neither of them could follow. On that very same day, Zuko confronted her.

Zuko always knew where to look for her when things suddenly spiral out of control. Azula found solace in the park near their home that overlooked the entire Tokyo skyline. She was sitting on a bench, facing the sunset, when he approached her from behind. She always knew that he was going come for her anyways, and she always lets herself be found. Moreover, she was well aware of Zuko's presence without even looking.

"Why don't we settle things here, you and I. Just you and me, brother. Lets have a fight, a fair and just Agni Kai because this time around, there would be no waterbender to save your ass." She threatened before Zuko could even come near her.

"Azula, you didn't come all this way to turn back into..." He trailed off.

Azula pushed him, "What?! Say it!"

"I said you didn't come this far to regress back to the way you once were. You're way beyond that now! So for Agni's sake, don't let yourself get out of control again." He reminded her. He was older than her anyway, so he thought it's about time he used and asserted his authority.

Azula was hit with a pang of realization. She felt her chest tighten and her heart soften against her will both at the same time. It left her extremely confused so she therefore asked him with a slight hint of hesitation, "Zuko, am I still the same person to you? Do you think... I haven't changed, at all?"

"Didn't you listen to what I just said earlier? Azula, you've come a long way and I'm very proud of you. You just keep doing what you're doing and I'll be here for you every step of the way." Zuko promised and he smiled reassuringly as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

Perhaps this was her best shot at redemption, she thought. It was her chance to redeem not just herself, but everything she had ever done wrong in her entire life. This time, she decided to become a hero not just because her father told her so. On that day, she decided to become a hero for herself.

Apologies weren't her best suit, but she guessed it wouldn't hurt her to at least try.

"Shouto... about earlier, I just wanted to say that I'm-" before she could even finish her sentence, Shouto cut her off by awkwardly pulling her into a hug.

"I'm sorry too, Asaki." Although it sounded that Shouto apologized begrudgingly, he genuinely meant it. Azula shyly returned the hug and thanked him.

It was about time that the three of them enter UA and pave their own destinies. Now this, this is their starting line towards becoming the heroes of tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it looks like their quirks make them both too OP, but there will definitely be drawbacks to tone it down, which will be explained later on. Although this is mostly centered on both Azula and Zuko, stay tuned because other main characters from atla would also appear in the future chapters. Hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think!


	2. Into the Hero-verse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prepare to meet Class 1-A on their first day in school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Long chapter ahead, enjoy!

The long-awaited day has finally come, today is going to be their first day in high school. Zuko rose with the sun as always. He quickly hopped out of bed and prepped himself up. Then he got dressed in his freshly ironed uniform and fixed his unruly hair before he hastily headed out of his room, nearly bumping into his sister in the hallway.

"Well it looks like someone's excited." Azula idly commented.

"Azu- Asaki." He swore to Agni how careless he was. They have been reborn for at least 16 years now with new identities and names, yet he somehow still slips.

"Zenkou." Azula warningly emphasized with a stern glare.

"You... you cut your hair?" Zuko pointed out as he noticed that Azula's hair barely went past her shoulders now. Also, it was quite shaggy and tousled. She definitely looked like a typical rebellious teenager, especially with their new natural hair color. He wondered what made her do it. As far as he recalled, she was obsessed in keeping her hair long and kempt even in their previous life.

"Well, obviously..." she sighed.

"Asaki, Zenkou." Shouto called their names casually as he stepped out from his room next.

The two siblings turned around and acknowledged his presence in unison, "Shouto..."

"Oh, you cut your hair?" He noticed as well.

Azula rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she began to grow visibly annoyed. Having one male sibling was already a nuisance of its kind in her past life, now having three more just took it to a whole new level even though she barely interacted with Toya and Natsuo.

"It suits you." Shouto added.

Azula's irritated face softened as she scratched her head in confusion. She couldn't seem to find the right words to respond to his compliment or whatever that even was. "Oh... uh... thanks." She stammered.

"So uh... I guess we should be heading out now?" Zenkou suggested.

"Yeah..." Shouto agreed.

None of them said a word after that. Well for the most part, things were already awkward for the three of them this morning and they haven't even arrived in U.A. yet. It'll be considered a miracle if ever these three kids made new friends on their first day. Internally, they all just wanted this to be over by now when it haven't even started yet.

The triplets were the first ones to arrive inside the classroom. Shouto took the farthest seat at the back without hesitation, while both Zuko and Azula followed and sat next to him. All weren't really that in the mood to interact with anyone at all.

Azula nonchalantly chewed some gum while she had some earphones plugged in as they wait for the room to fill up. If there's anything she's highly thankful for in this entire aberration that both she in Zuko were in, it was the technology that this world provided for them. Thank Agni for technology because she'd be bored to death without it, especially that she and her brother have to re-live a second life. They were technically a pair of 32-year-olds now.

Zuko discretely peeked out of curiosity to see what makes Azula so occupied with her phone. "Ugh, it's one of those boybands again." He uttered in disgust.

"Very typical of Asaki." Shouto deadpanned as he rested his face on his hand.

Minutes later, several students started to swarm in and their so-called peace was finally broken. It was fun while it lasted though. Two students, however, had caught Zuko's attention. He keenly observed them to ease his suspicions. Her tanned skin, those blue eyes and brown hair... It couldn't be. A young man who looked very identical to her trailed from behind. He was taller and he wore his hair into a warrior wolf's tail. Those details confirmed everything for Zuko.

He looked sideways when he felt Azula tap his shoulder. "Zenkou, aren't those..." she trailed off because she really wasn't sure about it, but Zuko knew his friends too well.

"Yeah, Katara and Sokka." He leaned closer to Azula and whispered so that Shouto wouldn't hear.

"Do you think they'll be able to recognize us?" She plainly asked.

"You know what, I really don't know." Zuko replied. What are the odds though? Zuko didn't have his scar now. Without it, he's barely recognizable. Azula on the other hand, still pretty looks very much the same, and their hair really wouldn't do enough to conceal their identities.

For that matter, the royal siblings hope that they wouldn't get recognized because that would just complicate things. Surprisingly, the water-tribe siblings sat right in front of them.

"Long time, no see." Katara greeted without even turning her head back towards them.

Both Zuko and Azula felt their heart race. Sokka placed his elbow on the backrest of the armchair as he looked behind them smiled, "Hello, I'm Sachio and this is my sister, Kira."

Katara looked back with a smile at the mention of her name, "Nice to meet you both. You guys are?"

"I'm Zenkou. This is my sister, Asaki. That's our brother, Shouto. We're triplets." Zuko replied nervously.

"Oh, that's interesting." Sokka uttered as he narrowed his gaze while his thumb and index finger stroked his chin.

Shouto looked up as he heard his name and asked, "Oh, you guys know each other?"

Zuko internally cursed Katara. Did Shouto hear what she said earlier? Why did she have to make such a bold statement a while ago?

"What?! No!" The four of them denied in unison.

"Oh, okay." Shouto deadpanned and went back to his own business.

Fortunately, the arrival of a professor deescalated the tension between the four of them. Silence quickly spread to the classroom like a wildfire.

"I want you all to arrive in Ground Beta within ten minutes. Also, wear your PE uniforms." He briefly announced in a passive tone before he left.

"Who is that?" A student asked.

"I don't know. There's not even an introduction or anything." Another student complained, while some couldn't help but agree.

Majority of Class 1-A were baffled by this but they had no choice but to simply oblige. Some were obviously panicking as they scrambled through their bags to look for their PE uniforms. They hurriedly changed into the locker rooms and darted their way through to Ground Beta. By the time they had arrived there, the professor was already waiting for them as he stood in front of the entrance. They gathered around him and tried their best to remain silent.

"By the way, I forgot to introduce myself earlier. I'm Aizawa Shota and I'm your class adviser. For today, each one of you will be involved in a duel." He announced.

This clearly caused a commotion as shown by a few audible gasps and complaints, which were all quite reasonable on their part. It was only the first day and yet they already want them to fight in a duel. Both Azula and Zuko wondered who would they be up against with? Both realized that this was even harder and more challenging than the Royal Fire Nation Academy ever was.

"We decided to scrap the traditional physical assessment we conduct annually for freshmen. Now, this new preliminary assessment task will test you even more. It will be your first step towards becoming a hero. You see, when you step outside to the real world, most of you wouldn't even know the certain capabilities of the villains you'll be facing. Today, each one of you will be battling one-on-one without knowing each other's quirks." He initially explained but he stopped when the noise coming from the students drowned his voice. He subsequently examined their reactions. With all honesty, he hated to be interrupted but since it was their first day, he'll let things slide. He coughed and cleared his throat to get their attention as he carried on.

"But before that, we'll be dividing you into heroes and villains. In this task, the hero needs to find the villain before the combat begins. The villain will be given a five-minute headstart. This assessment touches multiple aspects of becoming a hero. First, you need skills and speed to effectively find the villain. Next, you need to quickly assess the abilities of the villain, to know and analyze their strengths and weakness right on the spot. Are there any questions?"

"Aizawa Sensei, how will we be graded in this assessment?" A student raised his concern.

"Oh, I apologize for failing to explain the rest. As a hero, you have to restrain or incapacitate your enemy for five whole minutes, and if you fail to do that within the allotted time of twenty-five minutes, the villain wins. It'll also be considered your victory if you make the villain surrender. The same mechanics for winning applies to the villain. Each one of you will be graded by a panel of judges depending on how you handle the situation."

After hearing this, Azula began to contemplate and form her strategy. Since to incapacitate the enemy is the goal here, whether she was the hero or the villain, it would therefore be logical for her to entrap her enemy using her force-field. However, if Azula uses them, her stamina would rapidly decline because it takes a huge amount of energy to generate and maintain one. And with little to no stamina left after creating force-fields, her other quirks would be significantly weakened. Technically, it would leave her quirkless by then. So far in her training, the longest time she could hold a force-field is about ten minutes. That should be more than enough to incapacitate her opponent for five minutes. That is if the force-field is durable enough to withstand the attacks of her opponent. She concluded that using this should come around as her last resort and her final move if ever she wants to win this game.

Although she knew that she could also turn her force-fields into attacks rather than just have them as a mere protective shield, she hasn't developed her force-field quirk that much since she was twelve years old because Enji made her stop using it. The doctors have made a plausible explanation that if she continues on using her force-fields, her other quirks might gradually weaken or worse, she could permanently lose them. Therefore, it would benefit her more to have two quirks that she could hone simultaneously without drawbacks, rather than solely having one quirk that is neither feasible nor efficient for endurance combats.

* * *

"First match, Asaki Todoroki vs Katsuki Bakugo. Asaki, you're the hero and as for Katsuki, you'll be the villain. You'll be given five minutes to pick a hiding spot before Asaki could follow you inside." Aizawa announced.

She was supposed to be the hero in this task, so she should be the one searching for her opponent right now. Much to her luck, her opponent appeared to be an arrogant fool. He never took off even if he was given a five-minute advantage. Instead, he proudly stood at the entrance, waiting for the right moment to attack her.

"Confident enough, I see?" Azula remarked with a smirk.

"Tch, just shut up and let's get this over with." Bakugou answered back and readied his stance.

"If you say so." Azula playfully responded with a sing-song voice as she plastered a sadistic smile on her face.

Azula spun with a kick and sent an arc of blue flames towards Bakugou. In return, he swung his right arm to emit an explosion that dispersed Azula's flames.

Quite shocked to find out that their quirks are somehow similar to one another, both stopped attacking for a short while. Azula managed to mask the expression on her face, while Bakugou furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"So fire it is? What a pathetic quirk." He crowed as he sent more blasts punch by punch to which Azula effectively deflected with her fire jabs. That remark totally annoyed the fuck out of Azula, oh she'll show him soon enough. If only she didn't let her guard down just a few seconds ago, that was clearly a mistake on her part. For now, she has to think of a way, she has to find an opening. She totally didn't expect to see herself on the defense this early in the game.

Instead of the usual fire punch to block his attacks earlier, Azula created a sphere of blue fire to shield herself this time from Bakugou's attack. This, in combination with his blast, created an explosion that sent them both a few steps back. Because of that diversion, she was able to catch her breath for a while. On the other hand, Bakugou decided to play things cool. Much to her annoyance, she was matched up against an over-confident freak.

"You think you deserve to be up against me? This is why I'm on top of the entrance exam results and you're not! I'll end this quick for you!" He boasted as small bursts of eruptions crackled and danced in his palms.

"What a self-righteous braggart." Azula thought. Does he really want to play this game? She'll give him that.

"Entrance exams?" Azula scoffed as she petulantly placed a hand on her hip. "Oh I get it. No, me and my twin siblings didn't need that. It's basically useless." Azula said coolly.

This quite got his attention, he clenched his fists and bawled out, "Huh? You dare defy me you-"

Before he spits out more nonsense, she cut him off with a scornful chuckle. "You see, we got into UA by recommendation, we're scholars! This means that we're way above than everyone else and that includes you, you pretentious topnotcher." She mocked Bakugo with a sinister grin as she wielded blue flame daggers from her fists, looking as if she was ready to kill him in an instant.

"Die, you insolent bitch!" Bakugou screamed in frustration as he charged towards Azula.

"Come and get me." Azula muttered under her breath as she got into her stance to counter Bakugou's attack.

"Those two are so not hero-like, they talk like villains!" One student stated from behind the screen. Majority of Class 1-A couldn't help but agree, especially Zuko and Shouto. Although it was sure that she was beyond powerful now as compared to her previous life, Azula still has a long way to go when it comes to the moral aspect of becoming a hero.

Bakugou had planned to leap past her by propelling himself with his explosions, and then attack her from behind. But with Azula's agility on full display, she read his move and surprisingly grabbed him by his shirt while he was still mid-air. She then hurled him to the ground as if he was weightless. She stepped on his hands afterwards, pinning them to the ground, while her flame daggers burned hotter and brighter.

The students of Class 1-A couldn't help but gasp in awe at the sudden turn of events.

She knelt down while she kept him captive like a predator who finally caught its prey. She pushed her right forearm up against his neck, while her other fist that held the flame dagger was just a few inches away from his face. She leaned in closer, saying "Didn't you just say you were going to kill me?"

She could practically hear Bakugou's labored breathing. "That's what you get." she thought. He could feel the terrible heat from the dagger brush up against his skin. He couldn't lose, he thought, not on his first day. He needs to get out from this.

As for Azula, she just has to keep this stance for five minutes straight and she has no problem with that. But Azula clearly underestimated Bakugou. By stepping on his hands with her feet, a considerable amount of sweat began to accumulate in his palms. He took that as an advantage to make a small combustion, enough to set him free from Azula's bounds. The impact sent Azula flying just a meter across from him, but she was able to recuperate quickly as she shot lightning near his foot that made the ground beneath him explode, therefore sending him off balance. She saw this as an opportunity to end this fight and close in on him.

Bakugou was about to send off another blast but she managed to enclose him inside a force field just in time. Now trapped inside, the blast quickly backfired on him, rendering him debilitated as his body slumped onto the ground. He was conscious, but he couldn't move.

"Asaki wins!" She heard Aizawa announce through the speakers.

"That was a close one." She thought. She let out a sigh of relief as she dropped her arm in exhaustion, therefore dissolving the force field.

"You're too readable for my own liking. I need a challenge, not a practice dummy." She spat before shifting her expression to a friendlier one to spite Bakugou. She extended out an arm to help him get up. "Hi, I'm Asaki nice to meet you." She greeted with the fakest smile she ever put on her face.

Bakugou defiantly swats her arm away as he stood up by himself and left her alone.

"What a sore loser." Azula uttered, giving Bakugou a well-deserved middle finger as he limped away from the battlegrounds.

Zuko couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose upon seeing his sister's actions, wasn't she aware that they were being watched on screen? Also, that is not how a hero or a fire nation princess is supposed to act.

"Woah did that girl just have three quirks all at once?" One student commented.

"No, she only has two." Shouto clarified. As expected from Asaki, he knew she wouldn't use her ice quirk even if it was effective in immobilizing her opponent.

"Two? How is that two?!"

"I think both the lightning and force-fields are a subspecialty or an enhancement of her fire quirk that gives her the ability to manipulate energy." Izuku interjected and this was well received and understood by the others as they nodded and agreed with his sentiments.

A few minutes later, Azula and Bakugou finally returned to the observation site. Bakugou looked clearly pissed by having his ego get crushed by a girl on his very first day in high school.

"Todoroki and Bakugou, both of you put up a good fight. It was impressive for a freshman student, actually. However, both of you will receive a demerit for the attitude you put out there on the field. I'm pretty certain that both of you enrolled here to be heroes and not villains." Aizawa reprimanded before continuing. "So without further a do, let's proceed. The next battle is between Izuku Midorya and Zenkou Todoroki. Izuku, you're the hero. Zenkou, you have five minutes to find a hiding spot."

* * *

Those five minutes flew by so fast. Zuko clearly has a leverage here because of his thermal mapping. He would be able to detect his opponent easily and sneak up against him. He's like a walking human radar. However, Ground Beta was huge. His ability only enables him to see things that are a kilometer away from him, so he still has to move fast if he wants to win this. Despite him being the villain here, he has decided that he needs to find Izuku first. He did not stray that far from the entrance to make things easy for the both of them. In pursuit of Izuku, he put no time into waste for he used jet propulsion with his firebending to fly and search for him with speed and ease.

It didn't take long enough for him to eventually locate the green-haired weirdo. He detected that Izuku was looking for him inside the top floor of a building. Still on the air, Zuko went full speed towards that top floor and made his entrance by crashing the windows.

"Zuzu, always so dramatic." Azula commented from behind the screen.

"H-how... h-how did you find me so fast? I-I was supposed to search for you!" Izuku honestly thought that this combat places the hero at a huge disadvantage, but to his luck, the villain went straight to him instead.

Izuku noticed that he had a similar quirk with the female student who defeated Kacchan just a few moments ago. Also, judging by the looks, they must be related to one another. He gulped and wondered how he would restrain his opponent in order for him to win. Izuku didn't have any other choice for now. Considering that his other quirks were still under development, the only option is to fight Zuko with his strength in order to weaken him just enough so that he won't be able to move.

"You have no where else to go." Zuko threatened as he sent out a fire whip that lit all four walls of the room simultaneously.

Blue-violet flames? The student a while ago had blue one. As far as Izuku can recall from his science class, this color burns hotter than the standard fire. "These two are no doubt powerful, they must've enhanced their quirks through intensive training." He thought. Now he has to think, how can he possibly turn things around to his favor?

"What are you waiting for? Come on, I wanna see what your quirk is!" Zuko taunted.

Having no response come out from Izuku, Zuko was clearly irked. "Fine, if you're not going to attack me, then I'll go first!" To knock him off, Zuko sent multiple barrages of ice to which Izuku effectively break by snapping his fingers one by one.

"So super-strength it is, huh?" Zuko noted.

Zuko noticed however, that every time Izuku blocks his attacks, he was wincing in pain. He looked for the possible cause and he saw that his fingers were terribly injured. Zuko couldn't help but cringe at the sight of it. He wondered if this kid ever had quirk counseling before because it seemed that he was not in control of it. In stark contrast to his sister, Zuko actually upheld some values and morals with the help of Aang and his Uncle Iroh. He wanted to end this kid's suffering now.

"I'll make this faster and less painful for you." He said as he began to cover the room with a thick sheet of ice.

Before it reached Izuku, he acted rash by swinging his arm downwards. "Smash!" He screeched as the force that came out from his fist broke the floor between them. Zuko stumbled backwards as the ground beneath them shook. The impact was so strong the even the floors beneath them were damaged. Although it was foolish of him to do that, they were still lucky enough that the building was kept intact and did not collapse at all. This counterstrike, however, was deemed ineffective because the thick ray of ice crawled around the walls even if there was a huge gap between them. In the end, the ice rapidly crept up to Midoriya's body and restrained him before he could even react. Only his head was left free to move.

"I thought the hero was supposed to incapacitate the villain? Not the other way around?" Another student commented from behind the screen.

"He's crazy!" Another one commented.

"Zenkou wins!" Aizawa announced.

With his jet propulsion, Zuko flew across the gap in order to set Midorya free. He used his fire to melt the ice gradually. "So uh... you okay?" He awkwardly asked as he checked in on Izuku's condition. "Of course he's not, you idiot." He internally scolded himself.

Izuku smiled and assured him weakly, "It's fine... I'm fine..."

"You don't look really good to me, are you sure about that?" Zuko worryingly asked with genuine concern. By the time he melted all the ice, Izuku went flaccid and slumped towards the floor, but Zuko was fast enough to catch him.

It didn't take long before the medical team reached them both. They placed Midoriya on a stretcher and took him to the school clinic. Zuko on the other hand, went back to the observation site.

"I'm quite surprised you used your ice on him, the last time I saw you use that was like five years ago." Azula commented by the time he got back.

"Yeah, it got the job done quite easily." He answered.

"It's good for him that you ended things pretty quick though. His quirk clearly puts him at a disadvantage." Azula added.

"You know, he kind of reminded me of Aang." Zuko reluctantly shared his thoughts, but he made sure that Shouto wasn't near enough to overhear their conversation.

Azula arched an eyebrow in sheer curiosity, "Aang? In what way?"

"I don't know, but you've seen how strong he was. If I were him, I'd utilize physical contact to debilitate my opponents early in the battle. He could've won easily that way. Instead, he used long-range attacks to water down the impact. He looked clearly hesitant to fight me too." Zuko explained.

"Well if Katara and Sokka being here isn't weird enough already, what could be the odds?" Azula replied.

* * *

"Next: Kira Miyazono vs. Shouto Todoroki." Aizawa announced.

Zuko and Azula exchanged stares with each other. They both thought that it'll probably be like an Agni Kai between two waterbenders since they're both affirmative that Shouto would never use his left. That is, if Katara retained her waterbending at all. Is it possible that she has a different quirk now? They both wondered who would win between the two. Azula doubtlessly placed her bet on Shouto because she sincerely acknowledges his strength and capabilities. She has trained with him consistently throughout her childhood, and he's not one to give up so easily without a fight.

Just as the way they predicted on how the battle would go down, it was just an exchange of ice spears or ice shards between the two of them. Shouto proceeded to shoot up an ice pillar from the ground and directed it to his opponent. It was large enough to sweep Katara off her feet. The latter, however, effectively deflected his attack by turning this into water before it reached her.

Katara bent the residual water from Todoroki's attack to her will. She created serpentine-like limbs with it and began to encase Todoroki's arms and feet to disrupt his balance. Quick to his reflexes, Shouto froze the water limbs and broke off from it with a snap. Just like Zuko, he rapidly placed his palms to the ground and froze everything on the way. Before she could even react, the ice has already crawled up to Katara's body until only her head was left free to move. The battle, however, was obviously far from over.

Katara could only do so much within five minutes. She slowly began to turn the ice around her fingers into water so that it could move freely. On the other hand, Todoroki was well aware by now that Katara can shift the ice into water. So he kept on emitting ice from his palms to maintain the thickness of the ice cloak that encased her.

With great concentration, Katara began to reveal her cards. Shouto was abruptly immobilized and ice ceased to come out from his palms.

What did she do to him? Why can't he move? He couldn't even speak. He looked down on his body to look for a probable cause, but it was up to no avail. He was technically unrestricted, he wasn't bound to anything or imprisoned in ice like she is, so how is she doing all this?

"They don't call me the puppeteer for no reason." Katara declared menacingly. Although she had resented using her bloodbending before, Katara has come to terms with it and fully embraced it. She was not Hama, she dissociated herself from that wench ages ago. In this lifetime, she had decided that bloodbending would come to be very useful in defeating villains. Over time, she enhanced this particular skill that she didn't even need a full moon now to activate it. Unfortunately, though, Katara couldn't blood bend and melt the water around her at the same time, because the first takes intense concentration. For five whole minutes, both of them were incapacitated until the time was up. Much to Katara's dismay, five minutes wasn't enough to melt all the ice around her.

"It's a draw!" Aizawa declared.

Katara finally relaxed her fingers and Shouto was set free from her control. They both gave out a sigh of relief once it was done. She eventually melted the ice around her while Shouto voluntarily helped with his steam to speed it up.

"It was a good game. Congrats to both of us." Katara greeted.

"Yeah, your quirk was pretty strong, I certainly did not expect that," Shouto admitted and timidly smiled in return.

"So you're telling me that she could bend blood?" Azula gulped with her eyes wide open as Zuko explained to her about Katara's capabilities.

"Plants too." He added.

* * *

Several duels went on for the rest of the day while every student closely observed and analyzed each other quirks for future reference. The royal siblings pointed out that Sokka is fortunate enough to have a quirk of his own now because way back then, he was just a nonbender. They were even more surprised to find out that his quirk was not just mere water bending.

"So he has a quirk now, I see. Lucky for him." Zuko commented.

"And it's actually an interesting one, not as boring as ours," Azula said.

For that matter, Sokka was like a werewolf, but not quite. Unlike werewolves, he can transform to his own will anytime without the aid of the moon. He also retains his consciousness while he's in his wolf form. Another, he can either transform completely into a wolf, or a half-human and half-wolf hybrid. He has both the consciousness and intellect of a human, combined with enhanced animal senses and qualities such as hearing, smell, vision, strength, reflexes, and speed. Moreover, at night, he gains more strength with the presence of the moon and he has night vision too. Although his weakness is fire and his abilities are diminished during daylight.

With his heightened sense of smell and agility, he was able to corner his opponent without delay. He was paired up against a small, fair-skinned girl with short, auburn hair. Judging by his quirk, it would be logical for Sokka to engage in physical contact. Oblivious from his opponent's quirk, however, the moment he lunged towards her, a sly tap from the girl sent him drifting across the artificial streets. For the whole five minutes, Ochako managed to keep him afloat for just about fifteen feet high in order to prevent Sokka from getting injured.

"Shit." Sokka cursed at his own defeat.

"Ochako Uraraka wins!" Aizawa announced. Ochako quickly deactivated her quirk as soon as she heard that announcement. Sokka plummeted down from the air with an audible thud, but he wasn't hurt from it at all. He rushed to the pavements as he suddenly caught the sight of Ochako throwing up.

"Are you fine?" Sokka worriedly asked as he gently placed his hand on her back.

Ochako straightened her posture then cheerfully replied, "Yeah. I just get nauseous when I use my quirk too much."

"You're quirk was amazing, by the way." Sokka praised her.

"Yours too!" Ochako returned the compliment.

* * *

After the last duel, all of them received congratulations from the panel judges and they were dismissed. Azula couldn't help but admit to herself that she was beyond overwhelmed by the variety of quirks she had just witnessed. Somehow, she wished she was born with a different one rather than reliving her second life with firebending again. "At least this is better than being quirkless." she thought.

"Asaki, Zuko... I uh... I need to go somewhere else but I'll be back before it gets dark. Just tell Fumiya so she wouldn't worry." Shouto informed them both.

"Oh, it's okay. I'll let her know. Be careful." Asaki responded. She almost wanted to ask him where he was headed to but she decided to give him some space.

By the time Shouto disappeared from the scene, Katara squared up against Azula. "You, a hero? No, it doesn't suit you. At all." She scoffed.

"Kira..." Sokka tried to calm her down as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Just so you know, we have our eyes on you, Azula." Katara threatened while Azula simply rolled her eyes. She wouldn't want to waste her energy arguing with these peasants.

"Kira, lower your voice." Zuko stepped in.

"Zuko!" Katara exclaimed as she darted towards Zuko and locked him in an embrace. While he knew that Katara was just being excited, Sokka couldn't help but slap his palm onto his face in frustration.

"Well that's a lovely reunion. I'll be going on my own, Zuzu. Have fun with that new girlfriend of yours. I'm sure Mai will be proud." Azula teased.

"For your information, Mai and I broke up already before this entire thing happened." Zuko clarified.

"Yeah, whatever." Azula sighed and waved as she went on her way home. The other three remained on campus to catch up with one another's lives.

* * *

Azula made a detour as she went inside a convenience store near the bus station. She was starving and her energy was far drained because of the assessment task. The food in this current lifetime was beyond better than what they had back then, even way better than the cuisine they prepared inside the Royal Palace.

Since she was three years old, banana milk and melon pan became her favorite pair of drinks and snacks. Now, she just had to walk towards the chiller to grab one of those when she abruptly stopped dead in her tracks. She recognized that spiky, hay-like hair. What is that freak doing in here? She casually made her way through the alley and called his attention from behind.

"Hey, punk ass."

Bakugou knew that voice too well. He stopped rummaging through the shelves for a second when he turned around and saw Azula standing with that stupid smirk on her face.

"What are you doing here you hybrid freak?!" He yelled.

Azula walked closer to him and calmly replied, "Oh nothing, just about to grab my usual-"

She was about to reach for the melon pan on the shelf when she realized that the last one was already grabbed by Bakugou.

"Okay, whatever. You know, I was about to get that melon pan you were holding." Azula rolled her eyes then sneered at him. "But perhaps I should just let you have it as a consolation for your defeat earlier."

"Tch! Damn you!" He cursed under his breath as he gave Azula a death glare.

Minutes later, Azula coolly went out of the convenience store and strolled home as she victoriously took a bite out of her freshly baked melon pan. She thought it was a delightful way to end things on her first day in high school. With a smug look on her face, she's definitely looking forward to better days ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: To be honest here, despite the long chapter, nothing much really happened. I just wanted to introduce each character first before progressing with the plot. Hope you all liked it and let me know what you think!


	3. Wreak Havoc

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko and Shouto goes out on a mission while two rascals wreak havoc in Downtown Tokyo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for the comments! They're highly appreciated! I can't wait to introduce more characters from atla too, so stay tuned in! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

"Tell me, Doctor. What do you think happens after we die? Because I think I know." She asked as she intricately interlaced her fingers. She leaned in closer, giving her doctor an inquisitive stare.

"And what makes you say that, Taemi?" The psychiatrist asked her warily.

"Sometimes I get visions of me dying. They're too... vivid. I could even feel it sometimes. It's like my entire existence is a mistake." She reluctantly revealed.

"Can you elaborate on that more?"

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

There she was again. Taemi took a deep breath and fidgeted with the coin inside her pocket in efforts to divert her attention away from the irritating sound of her psychiatrist tapping her fingers repetitively on the table.

"Things just don't feel right, doctor. Something's telling me that I'm not meant to be here." She answered with a fearful undertone in her voice.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

Taemi clenched her jaw and balled her fists. She was still smiling though, to make herself look like she had everything together.

"Something?" The psychiatrist probed further.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

"Voices." Taemi rolled her eyes as she clarified the obvious.

She couldn't take it anymore. The noise of that bitch's fingers tapping incessantly on the metal table finally got on her nerves. She began to concentrate hard.

"Taemi! What in the-" the psychiatrist exclaimed as her fingers suddenly sunk and warped into the metal table that she couldn't move them completely.

Taemi stood up with a sly grin on her face as she said her goodbye. "I'm leaving. I think I said enough for today. Thanks, Doc." She waved dismissively and turned her back.

"Wait!" The psychiatrist yelled while she aggressively tried to pull her fingers free, but her efforts were useless.

Taemi went out casually as she manipulated the doorknob to close the door behind her. The psychiatrist screaming her name in distress was music to her ears.

Taemi was just a twelve-year-old and an orphan. She's short, has blonde hair and grey eyes. For the most part, she uses her mental illness as leverage for benefits and discounts. Since she was a minor too, she could almost get away with everything.

She consequently went to a nearby convenience store when a small earthquake hit. People went frantic and started to hide under the shelves for protection. She, however, remained unfazed by it. Minutes later, the earthquake has stopped and she immediately made her way out of the convenience store.

"My wallet!" A random citizen screamed.

"My purse!" Another citizen cried.

She plastered a smug look on her face as she placed both of her hands inside her pocket while she continued walking away from the scene. A storm began to brew outside just when she met her closest friend from the orphan, Anji.

"Why do you have to be so dramatic all the time? A storm, really?" She remarked with a sigh. She reached out her arm she bent every lamp post around them one by one in order to destroy the surveillance footages of what had happened earlier.

"If you want a diversion with my quirk, this is what you get." He sternly replied. It was effective though. The storm was able to lower down the visibility index to a significant amount so that no bystanders would be able to take pictures or videos of them.

"Okay, jeez. Give me a break, I just robbed ten people in that store. Let's go before the pro heroes arrive in here." Taemi grabbed Anji's hand as they both ran into the labyrinthine alleys of Downtown Tokyo.

Anji and Taemi were about the same age. They spent their entire lives in an orphanage somewhere in Shinjuku for as far as they could remember. They readily became friends since the day they started talking. Anji almost looked identical to Taemi if it weren't for his dark hair and congenital tattoos that glowed every time he uses his quirk. They were bluish-grey arrows that traced his limbs and the middle of his forehead. Although he frequently wore jackets and kept his hair long enough to keep them hidden because he personally thought that they were hideous. His quirk was weather manipulation within a fifty-meter radius, while Taemi's was terrakinesis. Although both of them still have a long way to go in controlling their quirks. Anji could only do so much because he gets blinded when his eyes and tattoos glow after activating his quirk for so long. Taemi, on the other hand, develops physical and mental exhaustion after manipulating different kinds of earth forms after twenty minutes.

"We have an offer from someone Taemi, we're gonna get dirty rich." Anji excitedly told her as they successfully escaped into a secluded, narrow aisle.

Taemi raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms while she asked, "Really? From who?"

Anji revealed, "The name's Shigaraki. Our first mission's going to be attacking some UA students and All Might in a few days. You in?"

"Anything to get me out of that orphanage, I guess." Taemi nonchalantly replied.

"I can't wait to kick the asses of those prissy students. They think they're better than everyone!" Anji balled his fists and immaturely punched through the air.

Taemi scoffed, "Yeah, you think four years of doing illegal shit is gonna put us on par with them?"

"What happens if I say yes?" Anji coolly asked back.

Taemi smirked and pat his shoulder, "That's what I like about you."

* * *

The Royal Fire Siblings witnessed the aftermath of the trouble that Taemi and Anji had caused earlier. A few pro heroes and policemen have arrived already to survey the area. Azula was scheduled to meet up with her psychiatrist every Saturday since it was their only vacant day from school, and it just so happened that Zuko wanted to accompany her today.

"A storm and an earthquake? But it's been sunny all throughout the day and we should've felt the earthquake if it happened this near to our place." Zuko wondered as he heard several chatters from the civilians.

Azula sighed and began explaining, "It's obvious dum-dum. The villains probably had a weather and an earth-manipulation quirk or something."

"You know, I'm still not used to how powerful quirks can be. Back then it's just four elements but now, everything's just weird and crazy."

Azula scoffed and jokingly told him, "You sure you're talking about quirks, or are you talking about me?"

That startled Zuko as he stammered and scratched his head, "W-what?! Geez, you're so hard on yourself."

Azula rolled her eyes and muttered, "Whatever." She found it funny how she still has to deal with her mental illness despite being reborn into an entirely different world and family. They still experienced the same family dynamics though, especially with what happened to Rei. Now, Azula voluntarily wanted to address her sociopathic tendencies so that she wouldn't end up the same again.

"So, uh... See you later, I guess?" Zuko awkwardly bid his farewell as he stayed behind.

"Yeah, just text me." Azula sighed and waved her hand as she entered inside the hospital.

* * *

It was nearly dusk and yet he still has matters to attend to. Zuko crossed the street as he cautiously went up to Shouto who casually sat on a bench at the bus stop. Shouto's head shot up as he noticed Zuko approaching him. He stood from where he sat as the two of them quickly went into a nearby alley.

Shouto opened his phone and clicked on an app as he informed Zuko, "It says it's in an abandoned underpass along Seiruka-dori street near the Metro Line. It didn't have any details though, and it's posted just a few seconds ago. It won't take us that long to get there. Let's go?"

Zuko nodded as he unzipped his jacket to grab his custom-made Blue Spirit mask inside, and wore it. Shouto did the same as he wore a smiley-face, wired, led light mask. The two of them dashed their way to the location given to them. Zuko used his jet propulsion to fly while Shouto used his ice to propel himself faster. Both of them managed to remain covert as they navigated through the narrow alleys to get to their destination.

It took them just about a minute to get to the abandoned underpass. Lucky for them, a random civilian who passed by earlier was able to quickly report the incident to the app without getting caught. The villain simultaneously held ten people captive with chains that sprouted from its body. Based on their initial observation, the villain can control these chains and he was capable to readily generate more. There weren't that many bystanders as well, because the villain can stealthily grab anyone passing by using his chains.

"I think we should freeze the chains and break them, including his body so that he wouldn't be able to generate more. Are we on the same page?" Zuko suggested.

"Exactly what I was thinking." Shouto agreed.

Zuko initiated their attack, "On my count... 3... 2... 1!"

Zuko and Shouto got into their stance as a thick sheet of ice emanated and crept up to the villain's body up to its chains.

"What the... Who the fuck are you kids?!" The villain bellowed in annoyance after a huge block of ice incapacitated his whole body.

"I'll break the chains, you keep the ice thick so that he can't break through them!" Shouto instructed as he began to kick and punch the frozen and fragile chains that held ten civilians captive. The twins have eventually learned their way around their ice quirk. One realization is that if you freeze a material to liquid nitrogen temperatures, it becomes brittle and it shatters quite easily with less force. Zuko did as he was instructed. Their strategy was proven effective, the villain wasn't able to generate new chains to break himself free.

When the civilians finally escaped after expressing their gratitudes, Shouto grabbed a chloroform-soaked rag from his pocket to make the villain unconscious.

"You can melt the ice now." Shouto told Zuko as he grabbed his phone, "It'll keep him immobilized for an ample amount of time until the pro heroes get here."

Zuko nodded and used his firebending. The villain slumped to the ground after the ice was completely melted. Zuko proceeded to activate his thermal mapping next in order to cautiously check for a possible bystander that could blow their cover. He was surprised to find that there's one at the entrance of the underpass. Perhaps it was one of the civilians earlier.

Before Zuko could relay what he found out to Shouto, the two of them turned around as they heard a slow clap from behind.

Azula came out from her hiding spot and began talking, "Wow. That was impressive. I'm really hurt though. Why would you leave your little sister out of all the fun?"

The two took their masks off, "Asaki how did you-"

Azula cut Zuko off, "Vigilantes? Really? And in a populated area like this? My, my... you two are something else." She laughed momentarily before her tone slightly became serious, "And what if Dad finds out? What if UA finds out? You two are expelled, then what?"

"You're... you're not going to tell him... would you?" Shouto warily asked her.

"First of all, I just want to know. What's your motive behind all this? Why become vigilantes when you're both studying in UA anyway? Aside from it being a huge risk, isn't this like a total waste of time?"

Zuko and Shouto appeared to be slightly hesitant to answer her question. Zuko diverted from it instead as he asked her back, "Hey, aren't you supposed to be having your consultation with Dr. Jee?"

"Dr. Jee's clinic was a part of the crime scene, apparently. It was closed and under investigation when I got inside the hospital." Azula briefly explained before she probed them further, "Now, back to my question, why are you two doing this?"

"It all started this summer. One night, Zuko and I went out to roller skate in the park while you were busy studying in advance for this school year. The next thing we knew, there was a hostage being held by two villains and it took very long before the heroes could arrive. So we took the matter into our own hands. We never thought saving people could be so... fulfilling. Because of that, we just kept doing it. Still, we're well aware of the consequences, so you don't have to remind us that. Also, we could always plead for self-defense if ever we get caught." Shouto explained.

"So, you're not gonna snitch on us, right?" Zuko asked.

"Hmmm..." Azula thought for a short while before she impulsively asked back, "Can I join you two?"

"What?!" Zuko and Shouto exclaimed in unison.

"Didn't you hear it loud and clear? I said I want to join you." Azula reiterated as she narrowed her gaze. She defended further, "Also, using chloroform is so villain-like. You can rely on my lightning instead to stun the villains just enough."

Zuko and Shouto exchanged stares as they contemplated on it.

After receiving a lack of response, Azula crossed her arms as she appeared to be slightly offended, "Really? Don't you want me in your tiny group?"

"What's your ulterior motive, Asaki?" Shouto asked her sternly.

Azula answered with a devious smirk, "Just for the thrill of it."

It didn't take long enough before the sirens began to be audible within their vicinity.

Shouto declared, "That's our signal."

And so the three of them ran away into an adventuresome night in Downtown Tokyo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think! :))


	4. She Who Has Pink Aura

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pink Aura? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I appreciate it! Hope you enjoy reading this one as much as I enjoyed writing it!

The trio ran into a nearby department store after Azula insisted that she needed a mask first before they proceed into another mission. It took them grueling turns and squeezing through busy crowds before they finally arrived at the Halloween section of the store. Azula went straight into the aisle while the other two braced themselves for boredom because they both knew how meticulous and picky Azula can be. To their surprise, it only took three minutes before Azula went up to them and asked their opinion.

"Well, what do you guys think?" Azula asked enthusiastically as she held out a bunny mask with bloodied razor teeth.

Zuko started to reply nervously, but he eventually decided to keep his opinion to himself. "Isn't that a little too..."

Shouto eyed the mask as he stroked his chin thoughtfully with his fingers. "I think it's perfect. You have a bold style, Asaki, I like it," he said.

Azula smiled back in response. "Well then, let's go!" She prompted them as they made their way to the counter. Meanwhile, Shouto opened his phone as he navigated through his villain-locator app.

"Everyone seems quiet tonight, there are absolutely no reports here," Shouto informed them.

"Seems like you're down on your luck tonight, Asaki." Zuko teased.

"Come on, it's my first day. I want some action. Why do the villains have to get lazy on my first day?" Azula complained with a frustrated sigh as she hastily snatched her change from the cashier.

"Well, I guess it's time for us to go home before dad gets suspicious." Shouto suggested.

Zuko scoffed, "Him? Suspicious? I doubt it. He barely even cares."

Azula mockingly pats him on the shoulder, "Poor Zenkou, don't get too emotional. You might embarrass yourself here."

Zuko swat her arm away and grunted in response, while Shouto let out a short laugh.

Azula curled her lip into a half-smile as she suggested, "I bet he's not even home yet. Pro-heroes are busy during weekends, so why don't we waste a little more time and go somewhere else?"

Shouto crossed his arms and nodded in agreement. He turned his head sideways to ask Zuko, "So, you in, Zenkou?"

Zuko replied coolly, "Yeah, of course, I'm in. I don't give a damn about what he thinks."

Azula laughed and covered her mouth in surprise, "My my... language, Zenkou!"

Shouto laughed along as he propped himself up into a tiptoe by jokingly pushing down on Zuko's shoulders with his elbows. He teased as he playfully ruffled Zuko's hair, "You're too grumpy for a sixteen-year-old!"

Zuko sighed, slapping his palm onto his face as he muttered, "And you two are annoying."

The three of them decided to have some fun in the arcade before they went hungry and made their way to the food court. Shouto ordered some Gyudon, while Zuko had Katsudon and as for Azula, she had a Katsu Burger. They definitely savored this moment because as kids, they weren't allowed to go out that much due to their extensive training.

"Asaki, Shouto, let's take a picture." Zuko urged as he took out his phone and opened the front camera. He stretched out his arm that held his phone in front of him, his free arm forming a peace sign. The other twins faced the camera and smiled.

Zuko counted down before he clicked, "3... 2... 1!"

Azula and Shouto reviewed the picture afterwards. "You suck at taking pictures, do it again," Azula remarked as she looked visibly disgusted.

"You should place your arm a little higher, like this. And the angle must be slightly diagonal to your face." Shouto instructed as he guided Zuko with tactile cues.

"You're right, it does look better." Zuko agreed and nodded.

Azula was impressed by this and complimented her brother, "Wow, who thought you'd be knowledgeable about details like that, Shouto?"

He slightly shrugged his shoulder as he explained, "Well, I just like reading random stuff on the internet."

"Alright, let's try it again," Zuko said as he readied his phone out in front of him, but before he could even press click to take the picture, his phone was snatched away from him.

"Finally, some action! Guess I'm lucky tonight after all, Zenkou!" An exhilarated Azula balled her fists in excitement as the three of them sprang into their feet and ran to catch the culprit who stole Zuko's phone.

Only a few seconds into their sprint, the trio heard an unexpected voice and joined them, "Hey! Come back here, you thief!"

The triplets briefly looked sideways to confirm who it was.

"Hey isn't that..." Shouto muttered in labored breaths before trailing off.

Zuko finished his sentence as his eyes remain glued to Katara, "Kira Miyozono."

"I got this," Sokka told Katara before he shifted into his half-wolf form. He used his heightened sense of smell and agility to trace the culprit with ease. However, chasing down the thief became harder for him than expected. She was certainly skilled as she flaunted her acrobatic moves. Although it didn't take long enough before he was able to corner the culprit in an empty, underground parking lot inside the mall they were in.

"Surrender. You've got nowhere else to go." Sokka demanded as he gnarled, gritting his sharp teeth against each another in hopes of intimidating the thief.

A few moments later, the other four have arrived at the scene and readied their stances.

Tamiya figured that this was probably the end of her. She immediately hated herself for acting on impulse so much all the time. Clearly enough, she grew slightly anxious and was beginning to regret what she did. But then, she saw an opening.

It was Azula.

"Awww, her aura is so... dark... and murky. I wonder what's going on inside that beautiful mind of hers." Tamiya wondered with an amused look on her face as she reached out her hand to the front in order to further activate her quirk.

Azula suddenly felt something strange going on inside of her. She was conscious, but slightly disoriented and somehow detached from reality. She could definitely hear her surroundings very loud and clear, but all she could see was white. There was this pervasive presence lingering somewhere in her head, and she couldn't seem to gauge what exactly it was.

Katara, Zuko, Shouto, and Sokka exchanged stares in confusion, trying to figure out what the hell the culprit did to Azula. Although the way she spoke had rung a bell to Zuko. He only knew one person who talked about Auras.

Tamiya was a student from Class 1-B. However, since it was just a week ago since classes have started, the five of them weren't able to recognize her yet.

She is capable of manipulating the Aura of a person, which is basically the energy that the human body emits. The Aura corresponds to a person's physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. However, she can only utilize, but not modify it. A side effect of extracting the Aura is that her opponent is able to feel repressed memories or trauma against their will. This is why there has been a misconception that her quirk was emotional manipulation at first, but it's not just that.

Moreover, she can convert the extracted energy into any weapon that she pleases. Due to her upbeat and cheerful personality, she usually turns Auras into fireworks. The stronger the emotions like rage and depression, the more powerful her attacks are going to be. She can also use her own Aura without feeling the side effect for that matter. The downside or limitation to her quirk is that it's slightly tedious and time-consuming. She first has to read, absorb, then release. Another is that she can only do it to one person at a time.

Now, Tamiya was formerly diagnosed with Schizotypal Personality Disorder during her childhood, but they were able to control or water it down as she grew older. Although she overcame her aloofness, she still retains some of the eccentric traits she once had. To an ordinary person, this would undoubtedly appear like a robbery. To her, this was her way of getting people's attention and making friends.

"Ty Lee? Is that you?" Zuko blurted out. He immediately scolded himself upon realizing that he shouldn't have asked that because Shouto was with them. Katara and Sokka thought that he might be right. While chasing her down, Sokka definitely recognized those moves when he first met Ty Lee in Omashu.

Tamiya arched an eyebrow. The name actually quite sounded familiar to her, but she couldn't seem to grasp the idea of where it came from. Anyways, she charged the energy she absorbed from Azula earlier and proceeded to blast the five of them with fireworks.

Shouto and Zuko were able to create a blockade of ice to shield themselves in time, but the explosion was strong enough that it broke easily. The four of them still weren't able to comprehend how Tamiya's quirk works.

After the blast, Azula was set free from the surge of emotions that previously held her captive.

"What.. what happened?" Azula stammered in confusion. She anxiously touched her face while her eyes wandered restlessly around the place to confirm if she was indeed, already back to reality.

"I think it's one of her quirks. She can emotionally manipulate people." Katara assumed before reluctantly asking Azula with utmost concern, "Are you... are you okay?"

Azula scoffed and replied, "Oh. You're concerned about me, how touching." She tried to make herself sound unaffected as much as possible in order to save herself from further embarrassment by letting herself get handled easily just like that.

Katara rolled her eyes and got in her stance, she contemplated that Azula was really a hopeless case after all. "Fine, whatever."

Tamiya momentarily scrambled through her pockets and handed out the items she stole from them earlier. She smiled and bowed respectfully, "Alright! The show's over. It's kind of convenient to have you all five in the same area and at the same time! It's like the Spirits are twisting everything to my favor!"

Everyone raised their suspicions, was this just a ploy to make them lower their guards down?

Sokka warily took Zuko's and Katara's phones back before he answered in return, "What do you mean by that? What's your motive?"

Tamiya enumerated their names as she pointed at them one by one. "Kira and Sachio Miyazono, then Zenkou, Shouto and Asaki Todoroki from Class 1-A. I'm Tamiya Toga from Class 1-B. You guys are always together in the cafeteria, I'm so jealous!" She introduced herself with a wide grin as she reached her hand out, probably expecting a handshake.

Azula strode towards Tamiya and slapped her outstretched arm away as she blew up, "Are you a fucking stalker?! What the fuck was that?!"

Zuko sighed at this. He immediately ran up to Azula and placed a hand on her shoulder from behind to calm her down. "It's okay, I'll take it from here." He assured.

Azula grunted and hesitantly stepped away, still bewildered and afflicted from what she went through a while ago.

Zuko proceeded to address Tamiya, "What's your deal? Why cause all that trouble?"

Tamiya mused as she thoughtfully pointed a finger to her chin, "Hmmm... I just thought it'd be fun."

"Fun?! You thought it was fun?!" Katara burst out in anger.

"Alright I'm out here," Shouto declared in utter annoyance as he waved his hand dismissively and turned back.

"Yeah, me too." Sokka agreed and followed suit.

"Who would've thought that a UA student is capable of doing such a thing?" Katara commented as she began walking away from the scene as well.

"We're going to report your ass, good luck on Monday, bitch." Azula threatened before leaving.

"Asaki, enough." Zuko intervened with a stern tone.

"You're seriously defending her?!" Azula snapped.

"Of course, not! I mean... just try not to be so... vulgar." Zuko nervously apprehended her while he awkwardly scratched his head.

Azula sighed in frustration and crossed her arms, "Fine."

Finally alone by herself, Tamiya dropped her arm down and frowned as she wondered, "What did I do wrong this time?"

* * *

The triplets arrived home late. Zuko was the first one to open their front door, while Azula and Shouto trailed from behind. All the lights were already turned off, but when they went in and flipped on the switch, the sight of a furious Enji sitting in the living room as he waited for his children startled the three of them.

"Where have you been this late at night?!" He brusquely demanded.

Both Zuko and Shouto turned their heads to Azula, expecting her to come up with a convincing lie.

Instead, Azula calmly bowed in front of Enji and apologized, "Sorry, father. It was an honest mistake on our part, we weren't able to keep track of time." After that, she straightened her posture and walked away to her room.

Both Zuko and Shouto were left stunned with what they had just heard, they noticed that something was really off with Azula since their encounter earlier with Tamiya. Later that night, Zuko activated his quirk to make sure that everyone else was asleep before he made his way to Azula's room to confront her.

He made a soft knock before he entered in. He saw that Azula was still up and she looked terribly disturbed. She was hugging her knees to her chest as she stared off into space. She didn't even notice that Zuko was there, so he had to wave his arm in front of her face to get her attention.

She blinked several times before she acknowledged his presence, "Zuzu? Are you... real?"

Zuko's eyes bulged wide open. He held her shoulders and shook her gently, "Of course! Are you... You're not okay are you? Do you want to... tell me about it?"

Azula let out a short laugh, "That bitch from Class 1-B really got me, huh?"

"How... what did she do to you exactly?" Zuko asked carefully as he sat beside her.

"I just... You know, I really like it in here. I'm in a world where everyone doesn't know I went mad. I'm finally in a world where I'm not a prisoner of my past. But that girl, Tamiya was it? She stole that away from me in seconds..." Azula reluctantly told him as she averted her gaze in shame.

Zuko finally understood her after all those years, he was finally able to read her like she was an open book. The two of them were finally able to form a decent and healthy sibling relationship even if it wasn't perfect at times. Still, he wasn't used to this side of Azula. He was never the type to console people, but he's still learning to. He just wished his Uncle Iroh was here to share a few words of wisdom.

"Azula..." He softly spoke, but he guessed that he really didn't know what to say. Instead, he hugged her and Azula's eyes inevitably brimmed with tears. He rubbed her back in efforts to comfort her, "If you're not ready to talk about it, I can wait it out."

Azula broke off from him and sniffed, wiping the tears with the back of her hand. She still wasn't used in letting her emotions be known after all these years, but she couldn't help admit that it was helpful in her mental well-being. She sighed and continued explaining while her eyes were glued down, "What she did to me... I couldn't describe it exactly. It was like I'm in a trance... It was as if I was floating and everything was blank..." Azula trailed off and shook her head to negate the shivers that went down her spine. It probably wasn't a good idea to revisit that feeling, being trapped and helpless. She shrugged it off and looked up to him, "Nevermind. I just want to know what happened while I was out."

Zuko revealed with a hint of uncertainty in his voice, "She blasted us... with fireworks."

Azula wanted to clarify what he said, "fireworks?"

"Yeah... her quirk was weird. We weren't able to figure it out." Zuko answered. He added, "She talked about Auras too. She strongly reminded me of Ty Lee."

First, that Izuku Midoriya from their class reminded him of Aang, now this. Why does he keep on assuming things? The two of them felt weird to say the least. Why did it take sixteen years before the people from their past began showing up? Did the spirits have this all planned? What did they want from this?

"How?" Azula asked back.

Zuko mindlessly divulged, "When I called out her name... she was kind of taken aback and her reaction was... skeptical to say the least."

Azula's eyes grew wide as she scolded him with a loud whisper, "You called her Ty Lee in front of Shouto?! How many times do I have to tell you to not be careless?!"

"I know, it was an honest mistake! Shouto didn't seem to care about it though..." he defended himself.

"Of course, he's... Shouto." Azula rebutted before she probed further, "So you're saying that there's a high possibility that she's Ty Lee, but she just couldn't remember?"

"That's what Katara, Sokka and I thought." He replied.

Azula conceded with a defeated sigh, she just wasn't in a mood to argue tonight. She reminded him for the very last time, "You can't just go around and assume that anyone with the slightest similarity to a person you once knew is in fact, them. That's absurd and it will get you in trouble."

Zuko admitted his fault and apologized, "Yeah, I know... I'm sorry about that..."

Azula took a deep breath before she confessed, "I'm... I'm glad to finally have someone to talk to, Zuzu. Thank you."

Zuko smiled in response and told her good night before he left.

On the other side of the city, a troubled Tamiya was up all night searching for answers. "Ty Lee... Why did he call me Ty Lee? Where the hell did I hear that name before?" She asked to herself.

She's been typing that name on every search engine and social media, but it was up to no avail. She just wished that her sister Himiko was here, so that she could release the feelings that's been weighing her down off of her chest.

The following day, Enji decided to punish the triplets by having them train for twelve consecutive hours. After completing an entire rotation of one-on-one combat against one another, each one of them had to engage in a one-versus-three combat.

Zuko and Shouto barely deflected the attacks during their turn. Azula however, defiantly used her force-field quirk. She still wasn't in the mood.

"Use your ice quirk like your brothers, it's about time you activate it! I didn't marry your mother for nothing!" He urged harshly.

That remark made Shouto resent him more, him being so pushy and careless with his words like that. Enji never cared about the trauma associated with his fire quirk, and Azula with her ice quirk. To him, they were just sentient pawns to fulfill his ambition of dethroning All Might as the Top 1 hero.

Azula grunted in response as she exerted maximum efforts to block their constant attacks. Her blue fire against Zuko and Shouto's ice, combined with Enji's fire, simply just wasn't enough. All this rage building up inside of her, it was blinding. She bit her lower lip in frustration. "You want a real fight? I'll show you what it's like." She muttered under her breath as she balled her fists and narrowed her gaze. She widened her stance and bent her knees lower. She began to charge the particles around her as she slightly leaned back to gain more energy.

With a vigorous push, Enji, Shouto and Zuko were sent flying across the courtyard when a huge sphere of force-field emanated from Azula's palms. Zuko and Shouto landed on the ground and rolled several times before their bodies came into a halt after the momentum dissipated. Enji, on the other hand, crashed into a nearby wall, leaving a massive crack from the impact.

Zuko and Shouto looked at one another, catching their breaths as they push themselves up from the ground. What did just happen?

Azula just stood there stoically. Deep inside, she felt fear looming around her. She had just realized the gravity of what she has done. What's her father going to do to her now? She just did something that she wasn't supposed to do.

Was he mad?

Is he going to hurt her?

Enji composed himself and stood up. He was visibly panting, but he kept his cool. Although he couldn't deny the fact that Azula just went against his words shamelessly, he admired her guts for it. He smirked and applauded his daughter with a slow clap as he walked back inside the courtyard. He proceeded to lecture Zuko and Shouto while giving Azula some credit, "You two, that's how you fight. Great job, Asaki. Just don't use your quirk sub-speciality too much. I suppose you're well aware of the consequences by now. That's all for today." Enji waved his hand dismissively and left.

Azula sighed in relief after hearing that. Perhaps relieved was an understatement. No, she was beyond grateful that her final move ended things pretty quickly because her stamina was far drained to keep her from going further.

She went up to Zuko and Shouto to check in on their condition, she couldn't even bring herself to face them. "You guys... I'm sorry. I was... I was just mad... at myself." Maybe she told them a little too much, but she didn't care anymore.

"Don't worry about us, we're fine. Dad's just an ass." Shouto replied reassuringly.

Zuko gave Shouto a slight nudge of disapproval with his elbow. He hoped Enji wasn't near enough to overhear their conversation.

But to Azula, that comment from her brother somehow actually managed to make her smile.

Zuko cautiously asked her, "Do you... do you want to talk about it?"

She placed both of her hands inside her pockets as she airily answered back, "Nope. I'm good. It's Monday again tomorrow so I'll be heading off to sleep early. Good night."

Words can't express how thankful she was for the relationship she has now with Zuko, but it can still be very irritating at times because he was overprotective. She didn't need to be babied and treated like a helpless child.

* * *

Katsuki couldn't help but wonder what the hell happened to those three. Four subjects have come and gone and they were still battling off with doziness. Feeling sleepy during the first subject was still understandable and common for most students, but this wasn't a usual sight for him. Even the other students directed their attention to the triplets. He quickly took his mind off of it, why does he even care? He proceeded to mind his own business as he took down some notes from Midnight's lecture.

Finally, it was lunch time. The five of them headed out to the cafeteria and chose the most secluded table as usual.

"What happened to you guys? You barely made it through Midnight's lecture, we swore she couldn't stop staring at you three." Sokka started.

"Zenkou nearly fell of his chair, I even had to slap him to get him back to his senses." Katara told them.

"We just had another brutal training with our dad yesterday." Shouto explained dryly.

"Oh! Endeavor?! That's so cool! You get a Top 2 hero to train you guys! I'd really die for that!" Sokka said enthusiastically.

"Trust me, it's not fun." Azula interjected as she poked at her food in boredom.

The five of them proceeded to eat their lunch in peace. Now they're just waiting for lunch break to be over before they go back to their chaotic classroom.

"Wait, why are you here?" Zuko asked out of nowhere.

The other four turned their heads towards him, only to find out that Tamiya had joined them. This probably isn't going to be good.

Tamiya took out a few boxes from her bag and gave it to them one by one. She cheerfully insisted, "Well what are you waiting for? Open it!"

Katara raised an eyebrow as she inspected the item in her hand, "A brand new phone?"

"Isn't this the latest phone that Mt. Lady advertised? Cool!" Sokka exclaimed excitedly.

Katara couldn't help but sigh and facepalm at Sokka's reaction.

Azula glared at Tamiya and crossed her arms in sheer annoyance, "So... you're a rich bitch. Now what?"

"Asaki, don't do that here..." Zuko reminded her gently. Azula rolled her eyes in response.

"Oh uh... I genuinely wanted to apologize for last Saturday. I just thought it'd be a nice gift." Tamiya meekly responded as she got on her knees and respectfully bowed, "I'm very sorry. Please forgive me!"

"Oh uh, that's too much... it's okay." Zuko cringed as he helped Tamiya get up. His eyes scanned through the cafeteria, it was a good thing that nobody saw it happen.

Tamiya proceeded to ask him a question that's been bugging her for two nights, "Why did you call me Ty Lee?"

Everyone else but Shouto froze at the mention of that name. The thought actually crossed Shouto's mind and he was curious to find out about it. Who is this Ty Lee? Is Zenkou hiding something from him?

"You actually looked familiar to me because I already saw you once before in the hallway. I got a glance of your name plate and it started with the letter 'T,' so I just kind of tried my luck and assumed what your name was. I didn't know 'Ty Lee' was a far punch from 'Tamiya.' Sorry about that."

Tamiya nodded in agreement with a smile, "Well, at least now you know my name!"

Azula couldn't help but feel proud that Zuko has finally learned a thing or two about lying. It sounded very natural and convincing. Sokka and Katara didn't expect that as well. She thought there for once that their huge secret was going to be finally revealed to Shouto, but she felt relieved that it wasn't because that would just complicate things.

"So... are we all friends now?" Tamiya grinned as she motioned for a group hug.

Azula mulled it over, so what if she's really Ty Lee? She didn't want to do anything with her past anymore. Maybe at least not for now anyways. Aside from the lackluster apology earlier, she also still resented what Tamiya did to her that night. With that, she got up and left without a word. She also discarded the gift on the table in hopes of spiting her.

* * *

As always, after dismissal, Zuko stayed behind with Katara and Sokka, while Shouto went about on his own business. She was fine with it though, she found solace in solitude for as far as she could remember, especially when she walks alone through the sunset-tainted streets of the city.

She found it surprising when she saw Tamiya talking to a guy outside the campus. So this weirdo has a boyfriend? What a miracle.

"I'm sorry, I have to decline your offer. It was nice though, but I have to be somewhere else..." Tamiya excused herself.

"What a pity, but you're so sexy and beautiful. Come on, come with me!" The guy urged as he forcefully gripped Tamiya's arm and pulled her in closer.

Tamiya swallowed nervously and tried to smile, "Uhmmm, I really don't know."

"You'll be fine, don't worry. I'll take you anywhere you want." The guy teased as he stroked his fingers on her cheek.

Tamiya didn't know how to respond to that. She felt... frozen.

Her eyes widened when the man who stood right in front of her just a few seconds ago came flying and landed against the sidewalk with a loud thud.

She looked around to find out who it was. Tamiya muttered her name when she saw her approaching, "Asaki Todoroki..."

"You're being sexually harassed, didn't you notice? You're pretty dumb for a thief, you know." Azula berated and crossed her arms with one eyebrow raised.

"Hey, I already told you guys earlier... I'm not a thief! I just thought he was being friendly..." Tamiya defended herself before she proceeded to thank her, "But... thank you..."

Azula rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"So we're friends now?" An effervescent Tamiya gasped in excitement, cupping her cheeks with her palms to contain herself.

Azula glanced sideways briefly before giving Tamiya a stern glare, "No."

"That's a bummer." Tamiya frowned. "Anyways, there's my ride. I'll be going now!" She waved goodbye before she ran towards the car that was parked on the other side of the road.

Azula watched her go before she continued walking towards the police station to report the incident. She was able to capture the entire thing in a video clip.

"Who cares if she's Ty Lee?" She muttered to herself. She tried to shrug it off, but it was easier to be said than done.

She was headed towards the metro line after she came out of the police station, when she noticed that she was being followed. She abruptly stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"Ah, punk ass. Are you stalking me?" She placed an arm on her hip as she narrowed her gaze at him.

"What?! I didn't even know you were here!" A startled Bakugou contested.

"Oh, really? Then get lost, loser!" Azula flipped him off.

"I'm not stalking you! I live nearby, you idiot!" Bakugou flipped her off in return.

Azula rolled her eyes and sighed, "Whatever, loser. I'm out." She did a two-finger salute before she continued walking.

"Tch. Damn you." Bakugou muttered under his breath as he went the other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Thanks for reading and I hope you guys tell me what you think. I'm open for suggestions and criticisms and I'd appreciate them a lot! So I'm basically introducing some new characters for now, as I try to build up to the main event. I'll also add more interactions with MHA characters soon! Also, I just like to poke fun with Azula's and Katsuki's abrasive personalities. Online Final Exams are coming up next week so I might not be able to update soon. Anyways, you guys have a nice day! :D


	5. Convergence: Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spirits began to reveal why they dragged Zuko and the others into this entire anomaly. Meanwhile, Shigaraki's plan is nearing into fruition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for waiting! Online Final Exams got in the way of updating this fic on schedule! But here you go, hope you enjoy reading it! Leave in some comments as well and let me know what you think! I'd be happy to listen to them! :))

Shigaraki interlaced his fingers as he eyed the cloaked woman standing before him, his little sparrow. "It's time to bring in the new recruits. I want them here immediately." He ordered.

Mai sighed and brushed her thumb across the knife that emerged underneath the skin of her palm. She kept listening as he further explained.

"The plan's in a few days, we can't afford to-"

"And about my proposal we've been talking about? What about it?" She interjected.

"I said you can't go in yet." He sternly reminded her with an annoyed undertone in his voice. He was beginning to scratch his neck impulsively again, it was perhaps a form of displacement for his irritable mood. "You're an integral part of our plan, we can't risk getting you exposed this early in the game yet. All in good time, my little sparrow." He said reassuringly.

She didn't like being called that.

Mai clenched her jaw and seethed, trying to keep her calm demeanor. She was just as irritable as he was, but she has far better control of her temper. "I was hoping you'd say that." She remarked impassively, as the knife receded back inside her skin.

"I'll be heading out." She declared with a dismissive wave as she turned away and spread out her wings comprised of a hundred knives carved out from obsidian, a volcanic glass that is way much sharper and stronger than steel. She could generate knives anywhere from her body without leaving a scar nor a minor scratch. She also doesn't feel any pain from doing so.

After leaving the building, Mai flew towards Shinjuku to gather in the new recruits. She didn't have to worry about getting noticed as both her wings and her cloak blended in with the pitch-black, moonless sky. It only took her approximately five minutes to arrive at her destination.

She landed in an unpopulated playground across an orphanage and waited. It didn't take long enough before two kids arrived at the scene. They lifted up their hoods to reveal their faces, and it was more than enough for Mai to confirm that the recruits were indeed, them.

She stood up from the bench that she sat on and shot knives at them by flapping her wings. Her attack reeks of precision that the knives pierced both of their sleeves, therefore pinning them mercilessly to the ground.

Mai flew on air as she readied herself for upcoming counterattacks.

Taemi thought that the knives were made out of metal, so she tried to manipulate it before it even pinned them down, but it wouldn't budge. After that, she just quickly resorted to loosening up the ground beneath them to set themselves free. She tried to throw chunks of concrete she drew from the pavements at Mai, but she missed her with every aim.

Next, she tried stunning Mai by draining out the contents from the sandbox and directed it to her eyes, but the latter was able to anticipate this move. Hence, she flapped her wings vigorously and successfully deflected Taemi's attack in return. As Taemi's tactic retaliated, the various mixtures of sand and dust got into their eyes instead. Mai however, still kept her guard up while seeing the two of them struggle.

Seeing the frustration building up on Taemi's face, Anji's eyes and the visible tattoos on his forearms began to glow as he controlled the weather around them. Dark, grey clouds laced with lightning began to loom above them, then droplets of rain began to fall with increasing intensity as every second passed by.

Mai's eyes grew wide at the sense of familiarity that hit her with those glowing eyes and tattoos. Soon enough, she wasn't able to withstand the powerful gusts that she was thrown harshly to a nearby wall, leaving cracks on her wings as a result. Although the impact wasn't hard enough to shatter them completely.

She regained her composure and coolly raised her arms in defeat. She definitely has more cards to put out, but she decided that this was enough for the night.

Anji noticed Mai's gesture and the light emanating from his eyes and tattoos flickered before going off completely. He annoyingly asked, "What the hell was that for?"

"Yeah, I thought he sent you here to pick us up?" Taemi irritably added while remaining her guard up, as she detached a see-saw from the ground that hovered in front of them in defense.

"Nothing. I just want to see your quirks in person. It sounded very interesting on paper, but now that I've seen it, I couldn't help but say that I'm pretty much impressed." She explained nonchalantly with a playful smirk and placed a hand on her hip before she greeted them.

"Welcome to the alliance."

* * *

Among the countless possibilities that Azula considered and calculated to happen in this new lifetime, eating lunch with Katara alone definitely isn't one of them. Apparently, the three boys got invited to eat lunch with their other classmates, namely Midoriya and Iida. They didn't have many friends in their class either. Actually, they don't have any aside from their tiny group. Now, Azula would rather eat alone by herself because she could deal with that, but she found herself a bit surprised when Katara insisted to join her.

"So..." Katara started and coughed to clear her throat before continuing, "Uh..." she scratched her head awkwardly, "What are you getting?"

Azula couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in this situation too, she didn't know what came out of her mouth next, "Oh, uh... I really don't know, perhaps whatever you're getting?"

"Hmm... Yakisoba's on the menu, that sounds nice." Katara replied as she got a tray of her own, still avoiding Azula's gaze.

Azula nodded silently in response and followed suit. They sat on their usual isolated spot in the cafeteria while both of them eyed Zuko, Shouto, and Sokka sitting far across on the livelier side of the room. During the first few days of high school, Katara definitely treated Azula as an imminent threat. But after observing her for quite some time, especially with the way she interacted with Zuko, Katara reckoned that she might've changed, that Zuko must've gotten into her head or something. Still, she held her guard up.

"So, how does it feel to have a new sibling around? What's it like to be around with Shouto? He does seem interesting, don't you think?" Katara asked with sheer curiosity.

Azula let out a short laugh as she told Katara, "Easier to deal with than Zuzu, of course. And you? I mean, Sokka was a non-bender before, but now that he has a quirk, I bet he brags non-stop about it."

Katara chuckled agreeably. "You said it, he's so annoying... Flaunting his new quirk and all, like I know, we get it..." she rolled her eyes at the thought. Soon enough, both of their laughter died and what was left of their conversation was an awkward tension in the air; a few intentional coughs from here and there, prodding at their own food, just to avoid making eye contact.

Katara managed to break the ice first, "You know, I actually find you quite more tolerable to be with right now."

Azula's cheeks flushed before her head shot up in response, "Thanks... I guess?"

* * *

Thanks to Sokka's personality, the two awkward Todoroki's were able to make new friends outside their small circle.

"Todoroki-kun, your quirk is so cool! You're so lucky to have two quirks at once, and to be able to control them masterfully like the one you did during our duel... That was so amazing to witness in person!" Midoriya expressed his admiration for Zuko's skills in combat by praising him.

"Ohhh, uhh..." Zuko cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly in response.

Sokka placed an arm on his shoulder and leaned in closer to Midoriya as he began explaining, "You know, Zenkou here doesn't know how to deal with compliments. He said 'thank you,' by the way."

"Ahhh, I see. I get awkward sometimes too, so I kind of understand where you're coming from. But don't hesitate to talk to us though, I hope we could all get along and closer to each other soon!" Midoriya cheerfully replied before he went back on scanning through his notebook.

"Midoriya, what's with that notebook of yours?" Shouto asked.

"Oh, uh... I call it 'Hero Analysis for the Future!' I write down information about quirks and combat skills that I could use for future reference!" Izuku gladly explained and asked them, "You guys wanna check it out?"

"Oh! Me!" Sokka excitedly raised his hand before taking the notebook from Midoriya. He opened and gave it a quick scan before he exclaimed, "Wow! It's so detailed and well-written! You guys wanna check it out?"

He handed out the notebook to Zuko, who just gave a slight nod upon opening it, while Shouto passed.

Izuku nervously chuckled and remarked, "You twins look so serious all the time."

"So, if you guys aren't busy tonight, I was hoping if we could gather on my place to do a group study since we're bombarded with quizzes and tasks by next week." Iida openly suggested.

"Woah, I'm so down! I've never gone to a group study before!" Sokka enthusiastically agreed.

Shouto mused and thought that it might be too early in their newly established friendship for that kind of stuff yet, but he couldn't see what's the harm in it, so he readily agreed, "Yeah, I'm in."

"Zenkou?" Sokka urged.

Zuko nodded curtly.

"All right, let's meet after class!" Midoriya cheered.

* * *

By dismissal time, Azula heard a small voice calling out her name from behind. She turned around and saw this little brown-haired girl that Sokka had dueled with on their first day. She completely forgot what her name was because she doesn't seem to pay attention to the other students in their class. More than that, she was accompanied by five other people. That invisible girl, the pink alien-like girl, the flashy French boy, the boy with the same lightning quirk as hers and Tsuyu Asui. Weirdly enough, she was able to remember a name from one of them.

"Todoroki-chan..." Uraraka meekly called out from behind.

She raised an eyebrow and tried to politely ask them, "Oh, what is it?"

Uraraka hesitantly replied on behalf of the other five students beside her, "Uhm, we were hoping if... you could spare some time to teach us... We promise you it wouldn't take long, though! You were amazing in math class a while ago! I mean, you were the only person who got a perfect mark! We're kind of worried about the upcoming quiz in the next few days so... Is it... okay for you?"

Azula's cheeks reddened and she couldn't help but feel flattered by what she just heard. It's been a lifetime ago since she heard praises like that as a princess. Sure, she was a fast and incredible learner. But as a teacher? She didn't feel quite confident about it. Regardless of it, she soon found herself accepting the task.

"Yeah... I guess." She shyly responded. Just like Zuko, she apparently doesn't know how to take a compliment. She was certain though that the boastful remarks she had used before in her previous life to boost her pride and ego were out of the option. It also has to be taken into consideration that she lacked appropriate social skills way even before too. So looking at and being cautious of her former mistakes, what was left of her is nothing but pure awkwardness.

"All right! Cool!" The group cheered in unison.

"Good luck, Asaki-sensei." Zuko teased as he pats her on the shoulder.

"Goodbye, Asaki-sensei." Shouto hopped in on the joke as he ruffled Azula's hair.

Katara laughed and chimed in, "I wish I'm as good as Asaki-sensei in math, I'm so jealous!"

Sokka bantered, "You three, leave Asaki-sensei alone. She's starting to look scary now."

Azula seethed and muttered seriously under her breath, as she held up one hand to show the static electricity produced between her index and middle finger, "Oh, you're right. You should leave before I use this on you because it's gonna be unpleasant, you freaking idiots."

"She still talks like a villain!" Someone commented from behind.

Her mood quickly changed when she faced back Uraraka and her small group. She let out a friendly smile and told them, "So, let's begin."

* * *

Her mini-tutorial lasted for only about thirty minutes and she was glad to have survived that. Since it was a weekend, her excitement for the night rose up again until it all simmered down when she received a text from Zuko.

Azula internally hated that her two siblings decided to ditch their little vigilante scheme for hanging out with some boys on a damn weekend. She couldn't blame them though. Well, they're... boys. She went by herself nonetheless. She changed into her leather jacket and wore her bloodied bunny mask before she escaped from her bedroom window. She walked a few meters away from their house before she reached the spot where her secretly-bought motorcycle was parked. She pinned the location of the incident on her phone before she rode away into another thrilling night.

Upon arriving at the scene, Azula heard enough of the conversation going on between the assailant and the victim, to know that it was nearly a botched assassination attempt. She was impressed that the victim was still able to report his location to the app, and that she arrived just in time.

"How much is he offering you? I can pay higher!" The man bargained in fear as the assailant held him captive by slightly puncturing his throat with a knife.

Mai pricked it deeper, making him flinch, as she replied menacingly, "Is that so? Too bad, I don't take offers from anyone else aside from him. Your reflexes may be good Okihiko-san, I can't believe you dodged my sudden attack. You know, it would've been a quicker death hadn't you fought against me, but I'll make sure it'll be a slower death for you this time around. I'll sever your arteries one by one, and it's going to be unpleasant." She terrorized him as she brushed the knife against the skin on his neck, making small cuts with every stroke, then she declared a final "Goodbye."

Before she was able to push the dagger deeper into his neck, she was sent flying across the desolated warehouse in a split-second. This is why she hated conducting assassination attempts on her own sometimes. Despite hating most of her colleagues, she couldn't deny the fact that you need to have a partner to effectively factor out possible interferences, and this, in particular, is one of them. She may have formulated contingency plans in case things do not go her way for the first attempt and unfortunately, she wasn't able to anticipate any of this.

Who dare intrude her just like that? She made sure the allies of this Okihiko were out of reach before she conducted the assassination, but apparently, she couldn't believe that she actually left out a strand of hair loose.

"What's with that stupid bunny mask?" She jeered.

Azula scoffed in response, "Oh please, as if wearing an eye mask doesn't look much more stupid. That's so old-fashioned."

The assailant grunted and gathered herself up as she spread out her wings, sending out dozens of knives against her target in the process of doing so.

Azula, on the other hand, forcefully straightened her arm and stretched her palm wide open, deflecting the assailant's attack yet again. Azula's forcefield was strong enough to reverse the trajectory of her knives, leading the attack right back to where it came from. Mai shielded herself with her wings in response. She was glad that the knives as a counterattack didn't do any damage to her wings because they were composed of the same material.

She flew to up to the high ceiling of the warehouse to maximize her attacks, shooting knives at Azula with every chance that she got, hoping to break through that damn forcefield. Meanwhile, Azula's stamina was running low from using her quirk too much because apparently, she analyzed that her fire probably wouldn't do so much against the knives. If only the assailant's wings were made out of metal, perhaps she could use her lightning. Unfortunately, it was made of glass, so that quirk of hers was out of the option as well. Although she also postulated that she could use the heat from her fire to break the glass, it wouldn't be very time-efficient.

Azula ran to the victim while she remained shielded against the drizzling knives that fell before them. Luckily, the assailant could only generate knives so much that she began to feel the fatigue seeping in as well. She momentarily stopped attacking, but she remained to hover above the air to attentively keep them in sight. Azula saw this as an opportunity to conduct a calculated risk. She knew that once she removes the forcefield that encases them, they could be heavily injured within seconds as soon as the knives come falling down again. With her analyzation, Azula knew that she has to be precise enough to attack the assailant in order to stun her momentarily.

She took a deep breath before doing it. Finally, when she dismantled her forcefield, she released a bolt of lightning from her fingertips. At the same time, Mai saw through her attack and began to release several knives again from her wings. Unfortunately, lightning travels faster than that and it hit a portion of the ceiling inches away from her, creating an explosion that was strong enough to throw her off, but not enough to kill her. Azula made sure of that.

The next thing that happened was that the assailant fell unconscious on the ground, along with her knives that she released at the same time when Azula generated her lightning. Unfortunately, one of the daggers managed to cut through Azula's wrist, but she couldn't afford to tend to that yet because escaping with the victim was her top priority.

They ran outside and when they got there, Azula grabbed the spare fuel she kept inside the compartment of her motorcycle. She splashed it onto the entrance and lit the puddle of gasoline on fire to momentarily prevent the assailant from escaping.

"You go to the nearest police station while you still have the chance, just don't tell anyone about me. I'm no hero..." She told the victim before getting on her motorcycle.

"Y-your arm, it's bleeding..." the man stuttered and pointed it out.

Azula slowly peered down to check it. She gulped at the sight of it and quickly looked back at him, "I know, but you have to run! Now!" She warned sternly.

She made sure that he got far away first before she started the engine, but she wasn't even able to do so as the world around her began to spin and her vision gradually began to black out completely.

* * *

On the other side of Tokyo, the five boys were buying snacks from a small grocery store for their group study session. They were in the beverage aisle when the ground beneath them violently shook in various directions. They quickly scrambled to find a place to cover and protect themselves, but there weren't any. In resolution, Zuko and Shouto created a thick sheet of ice above their heads to shield themselves for potential falling debris.

From the corner of his eye, Zuko saw this blonde-haired girl standing unfazed with a hooded boy by her side. He lightly jabbed at Sokka to get his attention and signaled him to look at their direction, as he suspected that they may be the culprit for this. Later on, the two noticed the hooded boy's eyes glowing as loud thunder and torrential rain can be heard outside. It didn't take long enough before the electricity went out because of the storm's immense intensity.

Zuko remembered that day when he accompanied Azula to her psychiatrist. The crime scene also exactly involved an earthquake and a sudden storm, so he theorized that these two may be connected to that event as well. What's more important than that is, without even speaking to each other, both he and Sokka was hit with a sense of familiarity upon seeing the boy's eyes glow when he activated his quirk.

Honestly, what could be the odds?

Taemi decided that their distraction was enough already to buy them some time, "Anji, let's go. Grab whatever you can." She ordered.

The light emanating from his eyes and tattoos flickered before it went off completely, he gave Taemi a curt nod in response.

The five boys stood up and saw that those two rascals were about to steal. Shouto was about to step in when a hand stopped him. He quickly looked back to see that it was Iida.

"It's best to let the pro-heroes handle this. You don't want to get apprehended for an act of vigilantism, Todoroki-kun." He reminded him concernedly.

"Damn it. I apologize, Iida-kun." Shouto muttered under his breath as he seemed to forget that he was with other people. Clearly enough, he needs to be able to control his sudden tendencies because both he and Zuko have been vigilantes for too long.

Regardless of what happened, their group study session continued on. Although both Sokka and Zuko weren't focused that much because they couldn't help but think about those two rascals that they saw earlier. They couldn't stop thinking about Aang and Toph even if they didn't look anything like them at all.

* * *

Azula found herself in a hospital bed upon waking up. She was soon greeted by an attending nurse, "Good. You're awake. How are you feeling?"

"What... how... how did I end up here?" Azula stammered in confusion.

"A girl about your age brought you here... Although she decided to not disclose any information about herself. She said she just saw you lying down in a secluded alley. She got you here just in time because if it took her any longer, you wouldn't have survived that amount of blood loss. We stitched up your wrist, your radial artery got severed badly, but there's certainly nothing to worry about now." The nurse explained calmly.

Azula nodded and hesitantly looked at her injured wrist.

At the end of the day, why does she even bother trying to save anyone that doesn't concern her, to say the least? Why go out and risk her life like that? She hasn't encountered a villain except for herself until now. So this is what it's like... to be a hero, to save someone. So this is what Zuko and his friends have been doing in their past life. She wasn't sure if she liked it, though. It felt wrong to her, of course, it was hard to undo everything her father had instilled in her. It was against her former morals and principles, but if this was truly the right thing to do by all means, then she'll take it.

Meanwhile, Mai couldn't help but question her very own ideals on her way out of the hospital. She wasn't supposed to be... like that. A villain, an assassin, a mercenary, it was unbecoming of her former self. She just saved Azula and failed Tomura's task for her in doing so. She was just... a victim of circumstance. She couldn't blame herself for being born into a dysfunctional family right now. Also, why did she even save Azula? She never considered her as a friend, not even once, in her past life. She was manipulative, conniving, wicked. But she just saw her save someone and she couldn't fathom why.

What was that?

Apparently, she didn't know how to answer that question yet. She wanted to revert to her old ways, but she couldn't afford to let that happen yet. The plan is only a few days away and she needs to prove to her brother that she's a formidable ally.

* * *

Later that night, all of them shared one dream; Azula, Zuko, Katara, Sokka, Mai, Ty Lee, Toph, and Aang.

_They all found themselves back in the courtyard of the Fire Nation Royal Palace, all reduced into ruins. The sky hovering above them were of bright vermillion in color, mixed with light streaks of crimson. Bouts of embers and ashes drizzled before them like apocalyptic rain. Everything around them was set ablaze, there were no signs of lifeforms anywhere else._

_Limbo. They were in Limbo._

_They were all facing each other in full circle with their new identities and appearances, looking dazed and bewildered._

_A golden chariot propelled by a vicious, black dragon loomed above them. There was a man in it. Perhaps it was the new ruler of this abysmal world, the new king._

_A legion of dead bodies trailed behind his lead. The ground rumbled at the combined weight of the plethora of skeletal soldiers that headed towards them._

_What was the meaning of all this?_

_Why were they here?_

_What's exactly their purpose?_

_They didn't know._

_Will they ever know?_

_The four elemental deities appeared in the middle of their circle; Agni, the deity of fire, Varuna, the water god, Vayu, lord of the winds, and Prithvi, the goddess of the earth. Raava, the spirit of light and peace that bonded with the first avatar, was suspended above them all._

_"Go forth, my children. You are given an opportunity to salvage what is left of this world. You are chosen to fight in this battle once you are ready enough." Raava told them before the swarm of corpses neared in to kill them._

Zuko jolted up from his sleep and his forehead was covered in a sheen of sweat, his hands were cold and clammy. He ran to Azula's bedroom upon instinct to check if she was okay.

He tried to open the door, but it was locked. He swore he could hear something happening inside. It was eery, otherworldly. He successfully kicked the door open as the pounding in his chest grew louder and stronger.

Azula sat up in her bed with a blank stare. Zuko followed her gaze before his sight landed on what seems to be a portal on her wall that led to where they were in that nightmare; Limbo. It couldn't be.

Was he still dreaming?

"Fuck." He muttered under his breath.

He ran towards Azula and snapped her out of it. Once she regained her consciousness, the portal disintegrated and disappeared.

Azula blinked her eyes several times and asked him, "Zuko, what happened?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you guys probably know what's coming up next! I'd be happy to hear some ideas and insights about this chapter to help me improve my writing and plot for the next chapter. Since the Fire Nation treated Agni as their god, I kind of assumed that the other elemental gods were of Hindu in origin as well. Correct me if I'm wrong though. Thanks for reading!


	6. Convergence: Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The calm before the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for watering down your excitement and anticipation for the USJ event. I decided to give the characters a break from all the action and fighting to give them more room for development. This fic is mostly Azula and Zuko centric but I'll try to give the others more time on the spotlight! 
> 
> Thanks for the kind comments on the previous chapters! I appreciate them a lot ! Enjoy reading!

It was a day before their planned trip to USJ and yet they all have no idea on what's about to come. That shared nightmare has been bugging them incessantly for as far as they could remember. No matter how they tried to shrug it off, no matter how they distract themselves with such trivial things, the nightmare was like a pest that wouldn't go away and had marked its territory somewhere at the back of their minds. Well, they couldn't be blamed for it because, how could they? In their whole sixteen years of existence in this entire new world, why would the answers to their questions come up all of a sudden? Why is it that it's only by now that they've all crossed paths with one other? Why is everything happening so abruptly? They didn't know. They tried to come up with a plausible reason for it, but they weren't able to. They're at unease. So what if they found out the reason why they're here? That's just the tip of the iceberg. What are they going to do with that information? How are they going to fight and win in a battle without knowing how it happened in the first place? 

They didn't know.

Tamiya sat through Vlad King's entire lecture looking at the vacant seat to her left every now and then. Her only friend in Class 1-B didn't show up and she couldn't even imagine how she would survive the entire day alone.

She wished to herself, "I hope Mai-chan's just late for the first lecture."

Meanwhile, in Class 1-A, most of the students are fighting off their drowsiness during Ectoplasm's Chemistry class. However, Katara, Zuko, Sokka, and Azula were not. They didn't get a decent amount of sleep the day prior but they were all wide awake. They've already discussed that certain nightmare through group chat for two days straight, but their thoughts were still loud and scattered all over the place. Their hearts were racing even though nothing was happening around them. It's as if they're unconsciously anticipating that something terrible's about to happen. They don't know when though, it could be seconds, minutes, days, weeks, months, or even years from now.

"For the remaining time of our lecture, I'll be giving you a group seatwork that you need to accomplish within the period." Ectoplasm announced out of the blue that the four of them were snapped out of their thoughts.

"I'll be grouping you all randomly." He added.

Later on, Zuko found himself among Midoriya, Katsuki, Uraraka, and Sokka. Meanwhile, Azula was grouped among Katara, Yaoyorozu, Hagakure, and Aoyama. Next, Shouto was with Iida, Kirishima, Ashido, and Kaminari.

"H2SO4 is sulfuric acid, you idiot!" Zuko corrected.

"That's what I exactly said, stupid!" Katsuki retorted.

"Liar! You said Sulfurous acid!" Zuko rebutted.

"Why you-"

Izuku chuckled nervously and butted in, "Guys, calm down."

Katsuki glared at him and menaced, "Stay out of this, Deku."

"Kacchan, Todoroki-kun, the question asks for the chemical bond, not the name. In this case, the answer would be ionic bond." Izuku carefully explained, trying not to set the both of them off.

Zuko's eyes grew wide at the sudden realization and more than that, because of the humiliation that being adamant about a mistake brought to him. He apologized, "Sorry, Midoriya-kun."

Bakugou couldn't help but feel embarrassed too. "Damn you, Deku." He muttered under his breath.

"Looks like the smart guys are taking care of all the work here," Uraraka commented.

"Yeah... I mean, look at them argue, it's so... scary." Sokka agreed as he took a step back with Uraraka and let the three others take charge. 

* * *

So this Yaoyorozu is proficient in chemistry because her quirk involves memorization of various molecular structures? She hated it. Azula hated being out-bested at something, even at the most trivial things in her life. She used to be second to none until now.

"So, Yaoyorozu-chan, why don't we split up the task so we can finish early?" Azula openly suggested.

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea, Todoroki-chan." Momo readily agreed and proceeded to ask everyone else's opinions, "What do you guys think?"

The remaining three nodded in agreement.

"Cool. I'll partner up with Kira-chan in answering the first page." Azula declared with a forced, friendly smile as she hooked her forearm to Katara's elbow.

Momo smiled back and shyly replied, "Great! Aoyama-kun, Hagakure-chan, and I will work on the second page."

Azula quickly scanned the questions written on the first page and declared the answers to Katara next, who was tasked by her to write down the answers.

"Tetrahedron, ionic bond, phenolphthalein, light pink, stoichiometry-"

Katara cut her off annoyingly, "Can you... please slow down?"

Azula glared right back at Katara and before she was even about to say anything, Katara added further, "This is not how a groupwork's supposed to be in case you're wondering... You sound like a real dictator and I wouldn't even wonder why."

"If anything, I'm actually making things easier for both of us, so you should be thankful, Water Pea- Kira." She answered back.

Katara rolled her eyes and snatched the question list away from Azula as she sternly insisted, "Since you've answered the first half already, I'll answer the next."

She found Azula very... unpredictable. One day she seems redeemable and a changed person, then she's regressing and stagnant on the next. She actually reminded her of Toph in a way. Katara wondered where she was. She wondered where Aang was? Why did she unfortunately cross paths with Azula first before them?

"Fine. Suit yourself." Azula sighed and plugged her earphones in before turning away from Katara to mind her own business. She smirked when she heard a frustrated grunt from Katara right before she pressed play.

Minutes later, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She took off one of her earphones and turned around. Of course, it was Katara. She handed the paper to Azula and told her with a smug look on her face, "I'm done."

Azula checked the paper without a word before she hesitantly admitted, "You... actually got them right, not bad."

"So, let's go give it to Yaoyorozu-chan?" Katara asked casually.

Azula nodded in agreement and the two of them walked over to the rest of their groupmates.

"Yaoyorozu-chan, we're finished with the first part," Azula said as she handed the paper over to Yaoyorozu's desk.

"Oh, just in time! We just finished too!" She exclaimed.

"So, Yaoyorozu-chan, do you have a crush on my brother?" Azula blurted out of the blue as she rested her palm down on Yaoyorozu's desk, leaning her body closer to the poor student.

Momo's face flushed, she sure wasn't expecting that. She stuttered, "W-what?!"

Azula corrected herself airily, "Oh, that's right. I forgot to mention which brother of mine. It's Shouto, by the way."

Momo was left speechless. Whichever way she dealt with this situation, she's screwed anyway. If she denied this, she'll look suspicious. There's literally no way out. Why did this even happen to her in the first place?

"Asaki-chan, you don't have to be so blunt..." Katara whispered loudly to stop Azula from whatever she's trying to do.

Azula, however and as expected of her, ignored this. She began explaining, "forgive me, but I couldn't help but notice you staring at him every time. It's kind of obvious, you know. Well, if it's true that you have a crush on him, don't worry. Shouto's into smart girls. Not to mention, you have the looks for it too. If it helps, I'll let you know that you have my full support."

"I... I don't know what to say." Momo trailed off and avoided Azula's gaze.

"Do you want to pass the paper already?" Azula asked.

"Y-yes," Momo answered as she kept her stare glued down to the ground.

Chemistry may not be her best suit, but still, manipulation was. She saw it through Yaoyorozu's eyes and reaction that her assumption was true. This student she's second to in Chemistry indeed has a crush on Shouto. Now, even if Azula's come a long way with her attitude and personality, thanks to Zuko, she still has her residual flaws. Well, it couldn't be helped at times, and being petty and manipulative to get what she wants is still one of them.

So how is this tactic exactly going to work? Well, based on her observations, it's typical for high-schoolers to get distracted and lose concentration on their studies when they get attracted to or fall in love with someone. It's a shallow notion, really. Although it couldn't be helped that she was still manipulative, her old ways or methods in doing so have been watered down to a significant amount, and that's probably considered progress without her even noticing it.

"Number 6 is phenylalanine," Zuko said.

"No, it's phenylephrine, stupid." Katsuki corrected.

Azula walked passed by them as she was about to pass the paper in front. She whispered, "It's phenolphthalein, you idiots. Also, you have to describe it as light pink, not just pink, dum-dums."

Katsuki scowled at her, "What did you just say?!"

Azula smiled momentarily and her eyes gleamed with joy. She felt the pleasure and satisfaction she gets when she's pissing someone off. It was refreshing as always.

Azula reiterated while narrowing her gaze in efforts to strike a nerve and spite him, "I said you're an idiot, Kacchan."

Izuku's eyes grew wide as he heard Asaki mention Bakugou's nickname. He wanted to intervene, but he decided quickly that it may be best not to.

"Oi, Asaki-chan. Isn't this considered cheating?" Sokka chimed in.

She rolled her eyes at Sokka and sighed while placing a hand on her hip, "You're welcome, Wolverine. You're not even helping your groupmates, so that opinion of yours is invalid."

"Todoroki-chan, you guys have finished already? You're so fast and amazing!" Uraraka praised.

Azula turned around to reply to Uraraka as she awkwardly placed a hand behind her head and smiled sheepishly, "Yeah..."

Zuko raised an eyebrow at this. Azula cringing and looking embarrassed over a mere compliment? It's an unusual sight for him, honestly. He drove her away before they get accused of cheating by Ectoplasm, "Oi, Asaki. Leave us alone and stop pestering us. We're trying to work here."

She scoffed and left them alone "Tch. Whatever."

* * *

It was lunchtime when Tamiya caught sight of Mai walking towards their classroom.

She excitedly called her out from a distance, "Mai-chan, you're here!"

Mai scanned through the crowd to find where the voice came from. 

It was Ty Lee.

She meekly acknowledged her presence as she went up to her, "Uh, Tamiya-chan..."

Tamiya asked her with concern, "You missed three subjects. Is there something... wrong?"

"It's nothing. I just... woke up late." Mai replied calmly.

She noticed Tamiya looking past by her and followed her gaze. Mai's eyes grew wide upon realizing where Tamiya was looking. How did she not notice them sooner? Their rooms were just adjacent to one another, yet how wasn't she able to catch a glimpse of at least one of them in the past few days? And she calls herself an assassin? Maybe she needed to be more attentive and observant of her surroundings, especially to the ones hidden in plain sight.

So this is why the former princess is involved in vigilantism because she's training to become a hero. Hero? She found it funny, far-fetched, and absurd. Azula, fueled by her greed and thirst for power, suddenly decided to become a hero? Mai doubted it, she must have an ulterior motive, there has to be.

Apparently, Azula wasn't aware of her existence yet despite their encounter a few nights ago, thanks to her so-called stupid eye mask. She wondered what their reactions are going to be?

"Asaki-chan!" Tamiya waved her hand and ran up to her. Mai hesitantly trailed from behind.

Azula was with Zuko, Shouto, Katara, and Sokka as always. She gave Tamiya an inquisitive look and remarked, "I wasn't aware that we're close enough already to call each other on a first-name basis, Toga-chan."

"Oh, right. I get carried away easily. Sorry, Todoroki-chan." She timidly apologized and began to acknowledge the others too, but they seem oblivious about it as their stares were glued to the person standing behind her.

Upon realizing this, Tamiya turned around and began to introduce them to one another, "Oh, guys! This is Seito Mai. She's from Class 1-B too!"   


Mai wasn't even her real name. Her current parents named her Yumi, that's what's written on the papers. Nonetheless, she insisted to use the name 'Mai.' She also used a different surname to avoid getting linked to his brother's deeds. After Tomura unintentionally murdered their family during their childhood, she wanted to be called Mai so that she's reminded of who she really was. She wanted to escape his grasps soon, but now's not the time yet. 

After receiving a lack of response, Tamiya further added, "So, uh... Do you mind if we join you guys for lunch?"

This even intensified the shocked look on all of their faces, except for Tamiya and Shouto, who both have no idea what was going on. Mai, on the other hand, wanted to berate Tamiya for placing her in such an uncomfortable and inescapable situation, but again, what could she do about it? She didn't retain her memories like she did and the others.

"Y-yeah... sure," Zuko replied.

As always, they chose the most isolated spot in the cafeteria. Shouto wondered why everyone was acting so unusual. Even, Sachio, the loudest guy in their group, miraculously kept his mouth shut the entire time. He ignored this anyway and minded his own business. Unable to withstand all the tension, Mai spoke up in hopes of spiting Azula.

"So, Todoroki-chan, your hair color's nice. Is that natural?"

Azula was prodding her food again and didn't bother to spare Mai a glance as she replied, "Well if you're pretty observant about these two people beside me, I bet you can find the answer to your own question."

"Ah, I see. No need to be... aggressive." She replied and tried to coolly laugh it off. Mai thought it felt very nice to see the former princess so irritable. Where was the calm and collected Azula she once worked with? Without noticing it, her eyes gradually landed on Zuko like it was against her will. Zuko. She hadn't seen him for so long. By the time she regained all her past memories as a child, Zuko never left her thoughts, not even once. But working and conspiring with Tomura made her almost forget the life she had with him.

"So, Seito-chan, what's your quirk?" Sokka asked and Mai was easily snapped out of her thoughts.

"Oh, nothing fun, really. I can generate knives anywhere from my body." Mai deadpanned and waited for Azula's reaction. She noticed one of her eyebrows raise, maybe this sparked an idea about her botched assassination in that fractured brain of hers.

Azula managed to maintain her calm demeanor and tried to lower down her suspicions. She hasn't mentioned the wings yet. While it is pretty much safe to assume, there's a large number of people out there with similar quirks.

Tamiya chimed in, "I heard you guys are going tomorrow to train at USJ. I'm so jealous!"

"I heard USJ's a good training ground for heroes... Good luck tomorrow." Mai added with the usual passive undertone in her voice. Deep inside, she hoped Tomura wouldn't go all out on them since All Might was the main target here.

* * *

Azula wanted to straight-up go home after dismissal. As usual, Shouto has his own matters to tend to while Zuko stayed behind with Sokka and Katara.

"Asaki, want to chill with us for a while? Technically, we don't have academic loads for tomorrow except for Heroics Class." Sokka insisted and she certainly wasn't expecting an invitation from him all of a sudden.

"What do you guys do after every class anyway?" Azula asked back.

"Nothing. We just... catch up with one another... Just... chilling." Zuko answered.

"I'm sure a week is more than enough to 'catch up' with one another." Azula retorted.

"Azula, it's what friends do. We... vibe together. You might wanna give it a try." Katara explained. This, coming from a former enemy of hers? Had they really let their guards down? It's not that she's about to do something bad but she genuinely asked herself why are they beginning to trust her so soon?

Chill. Vibe. Whatever. They're such weird words to describe friendship if she's even familiar with friendship, that is. With a grossed out look on her face, she refused, "I think... I'll pass. Have fun though."

"Well that's an improvement, don't you think? At least she doesn't seem deadly anymore." Sokka commented as he gave Zuko a light nudge while they watch Azula walk away from a distance.

He barked out a humorless laugh and smiled genuinely as Azula's figure disappeared from the horizon. He agreed, "Yeah... I think so too."

* * *

Upon arriving home, Azula went straight to the kitchen to grab a glass of cold water. She stopped right in her tracks when she saw Fuyumi preparing some food. 

Without turning around and still remaining focused on her cooking, Fuyumi acknowledged Azula's presence, "Oh, Asaki. You came home just in time. Can you give me a hand here?"

Azula nearly forgot that she had three other siblings aside from Zuko and Shouto, although she barely interacted with any of them and the other was presumed dead after being missing for too long. She wondered why Fuyumi called her attention all of a sudden.

"Yeah, sure... I guess." Azula hesitantly complied as she dropped her things on the counter to help Fuyumi chop some vegetables.

"So, how's studying at U.A. going?" Fuyumi started.

Azula raised an eyebrow at this and asked back, "Why'd you ask?"

"Oi, Asaki. What do you mean by that? Of course, I'm your big sister. I'm supposed to know if you're okay."

"I'm sorry, I meant no offense... I just thought you were still mad at me. For striking you... with lightning." Azula carefully reasoned out. She felt so stupid and confused about blurting out her feelings so openly like that. It was like Ember Island all over again. She felt... guilty. Maybe that's progress on her part. Was she becoming too soft now because of Zuko's influence? Weak, even, considering the incident with Tamiya and her solo vigilante mission.

Fuyumi lightly chuckled and placed a hand on Azula's shoulder as she explained, "Asaki, that was... ten years ago. No one stays mad for that long."

Azula gulped and looked at Fuyumi after hearing that. She was... smiling. Why is that fool smiling at her?

Azula lowered down her gaze and focused back on chopping as she muttered, "Oh, I guess I'm forgiven then."

"Wait, what's that? You're crying?! It's my first time seeing you cry in years!" Fuyumi teased as she light-heartedly bumped Azula sideways.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?! I'm literally cutting onions here!" Azula defended and narrowed her gaze.

"Can I hug you?" Fuyumi smiled with her arms spread out wide in front of Azula.

"W-what?" Azula stammered and chuckled nervously as she dropped the knife on the counter and took a step backward.

Fuyumi playfully chased Azula down their kitchen and successfully captured her in the end with a tight hug. Azula rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration. It may not look like it, but Azula actually felt nice and warm deep down. She felt like a child again, despite not experiencing a normal nor a decent childhood from both her lifetimes.

Azula pouted and looked sideways in sheer embarrassment, "I hate you, nee-chan."

Fuyumi laughed in response and ruffled Azula's hair as she said, "I was hoping you'd say that. Go change and freshen up already, the food will be ready soon."

Azula nodded silently and grabbed her things off of the counter as she walked slowly back to her room.

What was that at all?

She felt weird, no doubt. Is that how siblings supposed to show affection to one another? Well, based on her relationship with both Shouto and Zuko, the answer is a definitive yes. But that, that was so... random. She didn't hate it though, not at all. Azula chuckled softly at the thought. It felt nice, very nice, to establish relationships that aren't based on fear. Perhaps it wasn't the most reliable way after all. Perhaps she was truly changing already and she was ready to accept it.

After changing into her oversized shirt and shorts, she went outside again to eat the dinner that Fuyumi prepared earlier. While walking towards the kitchen, she stopped midway in front of their courtyard as she caught something from her peripheral vision. She turned around and saw the Water Tribe siblings with Zuko.

"Oi, Asaki-chan! Come join us!" Sokka called out.

Azula crossed her arms and asked them nonchalantly, "What are you guys doing here?"

The two siblings didn't reply right away, it took Azula seconds to notice that they were staring at her forearms. Of course, why wouldn't they? It looks totally hideous. How ironic it must be that a firebender like her bore a huge burn mark that extends to the entirety of her forearms? So this is what Zuko must've felt? It's undeniably terrible now that she's experiencing it too.

"Uh, you're probably wondering what these are?" Azula addressed both Katara and Sokka as she raised her arms up with her elbows bent and palms facing her to expose the scars better. She explained enthusiastically, "You guys probably didn't notice these before since we have long sleeves for our regular uniforms and I wear sweatshirts underneath our training attires. It's nothing really, our mother kind of pulled an Ozai on us... Now the three of us have shared childhood trauma. But really, it's nothing."

"Why is she... smiling?" Katara thought to herself as she couldn't seem to find the appropriate words to reply to Azula.

"Yup, Azula's still kind of... I don't want to say it. But at least she's not trying to kill us." Sokka thought to himself.

"Oi, Asaki!" Zuko called out.

"What, Zuzu? Was I... Did I say too much?" Azula paused and realized that that may be the reason. She hated going out of control with her words lately. She conceded with a sigh and apologized, "Fine, I'm sorry for making you two uncomfortable, but you did it first. It's rude to stare, you know."

Katara apologized right away with a sheepish smile, "Sorry, Azula."

"Yeah, we're sorry." Sokka followed.

Azula tiptoed and raised her arms up to stretch her entire body while she yawned. "Ahhh, I miss hearing that name so much, it's so refreshing!" She exclaimed as she finally stepped out to the courtyard to join them.

"Call me by my name!" Sokka excitedly requested.

"Me too! I miss hearing it too!" Katara couldn't help but follow suit, she genuinely missed hearing her own name too.

"What idiots." Azula thought. She went along with it nonetheless. She smirked and jokingly said, "Katara and Sokka, the Water Tribe Peasants."

Seeing the irked look on their faces was surely delightful.

"Hey, lower your voice down." Zuko shushed.

"Relax, Zuzu. Fuyumi's in the kitchen, Natsuo's probably off somewhere, Shouto's not here yet, and dad doesn't get home by nine in the evening." Azula reasoned out in a relaxed manner as she jokingly pats his shoulder.

"Yeah, Zuko. Stop being a killjoy for once." Sokka protested.

Later on, Azula couldn't believe that she'd find herself in a jam session with his brother and former enemies.

"Sokka, shut up, and just let your sister sing this part. You're ruining the song." Azula spat.

"Yeah, shut up. The best part's almost here." Zuko agreed as he leaned more forward to hear Katara's voice clearer.

Sokka's face darkened at the Royal Siblings' combined efforts to make him stop. He clenched his jaw and tried his best to resist the urge to sing.

Soon, the orange skies turned into a deep purple and their small gathering has come to an end.

"Well, this is fun. Is this what you guys do all the time? Wasting your time around? I mean, it sure sounds dumb, but I gotta admit, it's fun. Thanks for the idea. I might give it a try, actually. I could procrastinate for three hours every Saturday." Azula mused.

"Who schedules their procrastination? Yup, Azula's still... And I still don't want to say it." Sokka thought.

"Shouto, you're here!" Zuko stood from where he sat and waved his hand at Shouto.

"Kira... Sachio. What are you guys doing here?" He asked with the usual passive expression written on his face.

"Well, we just kind of bonded with Zenkou and Asaki here since we don't have that much to do tomorrow except for Heroics class," Katara answered.

"Oh, is that so? I'm about to do a little training for tomorrow, though. I was wondering if you'd like to join me. Perhaps we could learn a thing or two from each other with our ice quirks." Shouto suggested.

Katara couldn't bring herself to deny Shouto's request despite that it's getting late already. Also, since she's way more experienced than he is, it wouldn't hurt to help and she's actually willing to. She replied with a smile, "Sure thing."

"I need some help with my ice quirk too, I'd like to join you." Zuko declared.

With a sigh, Azula stood up from her seat and was about to leave when Sokka stopped her, "Hey, Asaki, don't you have an ice quirk too?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm good. You guys have fun." Azula replied dismissively and couldn't even bring herself to look at anyone. She treated her ice quirk like a curse, like it was something that was meant to be hidden and not associated with her. When other people actually speak about it, even her own siblings, she couldn't help but feel ashamed and resentful. She knew that this is how Shouto feels about his left side too, so they both respected each other's boundaries and refrained from forcing each other to use their hated quirks.

She gradually lost her appetite and decided to go to bed early. She didn't realize that she's been staring at her palm for too long. It was too late when she felt a chilling sensation on her forearm, despite the decreased sensation on the area due to the nerve injury caused by the burn.

"Fuck." She muttered under her breath as she immediately balled her fists to stop the frost from spreading. She got out of her bed and ran towards the bathroom to melt the ice right above the sink with her firebending.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror once again. It was inevitable, it was right above the sink. How could she prevent that from even happening? She hated those white strands framing her face that she got from Rei, and the facial features she got from Ursa. The last time she held a deep grudge with her reflection, which had to conveniently happen the night before their first day in high school, she resorted to cutting her hair above her shoulders in a blind rage. She was beginning to run out of options to express her uncontrollable emotions. On a whim, she forcefully crashed her palm against the mirror and froze it to blur out everything.

Realizing what she had just done, she cried and cursed, "Fuck you. Fuck me. Fuck everything!"

* * *

Mai went up to her brother before getting some sleep to ask him one thing that's been bothering her since her encounter with Zuko, "You're not gonna harm any students tomorrow, aren't you?"

"Hmmm... I couldn't say." Tomura mused while stroking his chin with his index and thumb finger. He proceeded to ask Mai, "Why'd you ask all of a sudden? A day before the plan? Besides, they're not even your classmates. Is there something you're not telling me?"

Mai sighed and rolled her eyes, "Why? Am I not allowed to have any friends outside my classroom, nii-san?"

Tomura seethed and clasped his hands in front of his face after resting his elbows on the table that separated them both. He reminded her again, "What did I tell you about this? Don't form any unnecessary relationships. You're only wasting your time."

Mai snapped back, "And what did I tell you? Let me live normally just for fucking once."

Tomura didn't like that. At all. He wanted to slap that smug attitude out of that brat and put her in her place.

So he did.

Mai caught his forearm before his palm reached her face. She tightened her grip as a shard of obsidian glass emerged from the skin of her palm, piercing Tomura's forearm slowly in the process.

His eyes grew wider as he caught sight of the blood dripping down to the floor continuously, "This is so cool, Mai! Your assassinations are finally paying off, don't you think?" He remarked amusedly.

Mai eventually realized the gravity of her actions and conceded with a half-baked apology as she retracted the knife away, "Sorry. I acted too rash."

Shigaraki stood up and leaned closer to her while he gently caressed her cheeks in return without using his quirk. He lied, "Don't worry, my little sparrow. I'll make sure to try not to harm your precious friends. Good night."

Mai always doubted his words, but she played along anyway.

"Yeah. Goodnight."

* * *

Torrential rain started to pour down as soon as Class 1-A got off the bus. The students immediately sought cover under the entrance of the building that stood in front of them. 

"That's weird, it was just sunny a few seconds ago," Izuku commented while panting and catching his breath.

"Is this climate change?" A student commented from behind.

Iida was about to reply to him when an earthquake suddenly jolted them up. It wasn't of high intensity. Most of them didn't raise any suspicions because small earthquakes are actually a normal occurrence in Japan. Well, maybe most of them except for Shouto, Zuko, Azula, Katara, Sokka, Izuku, and Iida, who all knew what the combined earthquake and storm meant. They all kept their guards up and remained vigilant.

As soon as the earthquake stopped, Aizawa-sensei led them inside and greeted them, "Everyone, welcome to USJ."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Kindly let me know what you think and I'll also be happy to hear some suggestions or ideas for the next chapters!


	7. Convergence: Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All hell breaks loose at USJ while an anomaly appears on the other side of Japan. How will our new heroes succeed?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry for the delay! This took me a while to write because this chapter is definitely action-filled, which makes it a huge challenge for me! Hope you appreciate this chapter and let me know what you think so I could improve better!

Mai leaned by the glass window that extended throughout the entirety of the hallway. She glanced sideways as she pressed 'answer' on her phone.

"The bus is about to leave, I'm sure they'll be there by no more than twenty minutes." Mai warily talked over by the phone, she continued conversing while constantly looking at her surroundings, "Yeah, the students are about twenty-four... Why are you asking me this just now? Isn't it a little too late?... Whatever... Okay, I'm not sure about the others, but I know the quirks of at least seven of them... There are three redheads, all of them have fire and ice quirk. The other two are tanned skin brunettes, the girl can control water and the boy has this werewolf quirk. Another is a green-haired boy-" Mai quickly pressed 'end call' the moment she saw Tamiya approach her. "Shit." Mai cursed under her breath.

"Mai-chan!" Tamiya called her out as she ran and neared in.

"Tamiya-chan..." Mai muttered and acknowledged her presence.

"I was looking everywhere for you, classes are about to start. Let's go!" Tamiya said and grabbed her hand as they ran back to their classroom. Mai couldn't help but look outside the windows as anxiety and guilt began brewing in her chest.

* * *

In the middle of No. Thirteen's orientation, a black warp appeared suddenly out of nowhere, with a whole intimidating crowd of thugs coming out of it. They were led by this light-blue haired person whose face, including his limbs, were covered with stone hands. At first, the students thought that this was a part of their training, that those people might've been make-pretend villains. The other seven students, however, knew that that might not be the case.

"Is this like our exam where the challenge starts too early?" Kirishima questioned as he narrowed his gaze to see more clearly and further examine those people down below.

That's what most of them thought initially until Aizawa-sensei warned them, "Don't move! Those are villains!"

They knew it. Zuko, Azula, Shouto, Katara, Sokka, Iida, and Midoriya weren't that surprised at all compared to the rest of the class because they knew it all along. They had a hunch even before they stepped in, all thanks to the familiar combination of earthquake and storm earlier.

"What? Villains? Are they that dumb to break into a Hero School?" Kirishima responded with another question.

"Professors, aren't there any trespassing sensors?" Yaoyoruzu interjected.

"Of course we have them but it seems that they're defective..." No. Thirteen replied before Shouto stepped in and voiced out his thoughts.

"The villains are likely interfering with the alarms and communication systems with their quirks. Also, it's actually logical for them to attack somewhere isolated and far away from the main building, this gives them an upper hand and control of the situation."

The others couldn't help but agree, although there's actually no time to analyze things in dire times like this. "No. Thirteen, I'll handle this! Protect the students and head for the exit, now! Kaminari, still try to contact the main building with your quirk!" Aizawa-sensei ordered in a rush.

"Can he actually handle them all though?" Azula stayed behind and whispered to Zuko as the latter tugged her along and ran back towards the other students and No. Thirteen.

"I know what you're thinking, but now's not the time," Zuko answered.

"What a bummer." Azula sighed and rolled her eyes as she began to match Zuko's pace in running.

All of them were nearing toward the exit while Aizawa-sensei started fighting off a huge bulk of the villains. Unfortunately, Kurogiri hindered them from escaping. They were met with an ominous, black fog that extended up to at least ten meters tall.

"I'm not going to let you all pass through that easily." He menaced before he introduced on everyone's behalf, "We are the League of Villains and we are gathered here for one sole purpose: to kill All Might."

All the students couldn't afford to suppress the shocked look on their faces at the revelation, all but one person. Azula smirked and balled her fists in sheer excitement as she muttered under her breath, "Finally, some action."

"But of course, it wouldn't be any fun if there isn't any collateral damage. That being said, I'm also here to kill you all." The villain added further.

No. Thirteen braced herself and was about to attack, but both Kirishima and Bakugou dove in first.

"Before that happens, we're gonna destroy you first!" Kirishima cried out loud as they charged in towards the Warp Villain.

"What a bunch of idiots..." Azula scoffed as she intently waited for the outcome of the two's careless strike.

The villain couldn't help but chuckle and glower at them, he mused "Kids these days... You don't seem to care about your lives at all, do you? Going on against me like that so mindlessly... I admire your courage, but I'm more inclined to watch you all take your last breath beneath my mercy."

"You two, move out of the way!" No. Thirteen ordered both Kirishima and Bakugou as she was about to defend everyone from the imminent threat looming above them, but it was all too late.

The next thing they knew, a forbidding, black fog with dark purple streaks enveloped them in a split-second. The other students managed to escape, especially those who were in the periphery of the dome formed by the black warp. Azula tried to negate his quirk and protect those who were near her, namely Katara, Zuko, Bakugou, and Yaoyorozu, by using her forcefield. But before she could even do so, she realized they were already being teleported somewhere else.

"Damn Tomura's bratty little sister, there are four redheads, not three! Now I'm confused about where to scatter these insolent pests!" Kurogiri cursed as he contemplated quickly enough where to dispose the students within his control.

* * *

Azula found herself plummeting alongside Midoriya. For a second, she feared for her life, until she mustered up the courage to look down below. That's when she felt relieved to realize that they were both falling towards a large body of water. Their impact created a huge splash and their bodies constantly sank down because of the immense force produced from falling at a considerable amount of height.

Both Azula and Midoriya prevented themselves from sinking further by immediately trying to pull themselves up and swim towards the surface, but the huge pressure that comes with depth makes it hard for them to do so. They have to act fast or else they'll eventually run out of breath. Not only that, but they were also faced with another problem, a mutant and water-type villain rapidly headed towards their way.

Upon instinct, Azula created a huge wall of forcefield before the villain crashed right in front of them, rendering the latter unconscious. Although blocking the villain's attack was proven effective, both of them started to feel uncomfortable pain in their lungs from holding their breaths for too long. Their heartbeats began to slow down while their stomachs started to contract violently due to the diaphragm's defense mechanism.

Luckily, Tsuyu Asui came in the picture to rescue them both. She swiftly drew them out of the water and placed them in what appeared to be a makeshift shipwreck alongside Mineta, whom she rescued first earlier.

Mineta hid underneath the rails of the ship in paranoia while the other three strategized their counterattack for the approaching herd of villains coming towards their way.

Azula started, "I can electrocute them in an instant, but the mere fact that we're standing on a ship made out of metal nullifies that tactic. You got any other ideas?"

"You can freeze them right?" Midoriya openly suggested.

Azula didn't outright tell him 'no.' Instead, she thought of a plausible alternative. The moment an idea sparked from her contemplation, she voiced it out quickly, "You see that huge rock behind this ship? We'll go there and proceed with Plan A, which is to electrocute them. Asui-chan, take Midoriya and Mineta with you while I propel myself with fire towards there."

"Todoroki-chan, isn't that a bit too..." Midoriya hesitantly objected.

Azula sighed and defended her premise, "Midoriya-kun, we're fighting villains here." She emphasized before continuing, "Villains. They won't think twice about killing us when they get the chance. If you're worried about me putting an end to their pathetic lives, you don't have to. I can control the voltage of my quirk to just stun, and not kill them. This would buy us some time."

"Okay... okay, let's do it!" Midoriya agreed with a determined look on his face while he balled his fists to pump himself up.

Azula nodded at him before glancing sideways at Asui, cuing her signal to take off with Mineta and Midoriya. She watched the three go first before she propelled herself up with her firebending. The villains saw this coming and reacted quickly by detouring from the ship towards the huge rock behind it. Azula cursed under her breath, they all needed to go there first because otherwise, their plans will be foiled. She exerted more power to speed up and successfully landed in front of Asui, Midoriya, and Mineta before the villains closed in. Putting no time into waste, Azula stretched out her right arm with her palm wide open, releasing a stream of electricity towards them. She was indeed thankful that she could already generate lightning instantly on the spot. Unlike before, she had to tediously separate the positive and negative energies with her fingertips before recombining them again and releasing it.

Several villains screamed in agony and pain as their bodies convulsed due to the electric current. However, other foes appeared to be safe for they were able to react quickly and jump out of the water before the attack. Azula's eyes grew wide, she had to think of another counterattack fast. But before even doing so, Midoriya stepped in and punched the air in front of them as he cried, "Smaaaaasssshhhh!"

Azula covered her face with her forearms as Midoriya's attack generated strong gusts of wind. She tried to take a peek and saw a formed rip current that immobilized and brought the villains back to the center of the huge body of water. From her peripheral vision, she saw Mineta use his quirk by throwing what appears to be purple spheres that grew out of his head. "I can be a hero too!" She heard Mineta scream as she noticed that his quirk made the villains clump against each another while the rip current dragged them all away, effectively immobilizing them further.

She then regained her composure as she stood straight after witnessing their success. She let out a smirk of satisfaction, "Nice teamwork! Now let's go back to help the others."

* * *

On the other side of the colossal training center, Zuko, Bakugou, and Kirishima were displaced in the Downpour Zone. They've attacked and defeated several villains as they find their way back to the Central Plaza. Although the damage brought by their hits was reduced to a significant level because the rain dampened the explosion and fire of both Bakugou and Zuko respectively. Moreover, the wet ground hampers with Zuko's thermal vision, which makes it harder for them to navigate their way back. Kirishima, however, had no problem with his quirk in this particular circumstance they're currently caught up in. The only downside he had was that he felt uncomfortable to be in the middle of Zuko and Bakugou's heated and petty feud.

Kirishima broadcasted his thought to loosen up the tension between the two, "That villain must know a thing or two about our quirks, don't you think? I mean, he put you two in a place where both your quirks are weakened. Also, they must've had a piece of knowledge about the structure of this place before they attacked. There must be an insider, a traitor in U.A."

"I don't know, Kirishima-kun. It might be just out of pure coincidence, but it'll be much safer to assume and be vigilant with the possibility that there might be indeed a wolf in sheep's clothing walking among us all along." Zuko replied.

"Oi, you half-breed freak! Stop talking and take us back to the exit with your quirk!" Bakugou spat.

Zuko shot him with a death glare and argued, "How many times do I have to explain that the rain is messing up with the thermal signatures, which is why I can't use my quirk effectively?!"

"I don't care!" Bakugou counter-argued.

"Sorry about Bakugou-kun... He's always... aggressive." Kirishima apologized to Zuko.

"Shut up, Kirishima!" Bakugou scolded.

* * *

Meanwhile, both Katara and Sokka shared the same sentiments with Kirishima as they were placed somewhere inside the Conflagration/ Fire Zone. There were no sources of water anywhere else, which Katara thought was a smart move made by the villain. That except she actually has a trick hidden under her sleeve: the blood of her enemies.

She stretched both her arms out front and twisted her fingers in a wickedly crooked position as she lifted the villain's body from the ground. She then swept her arms sideways in a swift manner, crashing the villain to a nearby wall like a rag doll with an ample amount of force that could make them unconscious. She's been doing this repeatedly ever since the Warp Villain threw them here.

"Come on, would you just let me attack the villains for once?" Sokka complained while he trailed behind his sister. Was Sokka even really the older sibling around here? It wasn't that obvious, they were only almost a year apart in age.

"Fine." Katara agreed in hopes of reserving her stamina for later, anticipating that this might not be the only battle they'll ever get involved in today.

Sokka smugly curled his lip up in delight as he took on his pure wolf form, jumping from building to building, attacking every villain in sight with the element of surprise, as Katara watched down from below with a deadpanned expression. "Okay, Sokka, we get it. You have powers now." She spoke to herself with a sigh as she calmly walked and followed him.

* * *

Yaoyorozu, Hagakure, and Shouto were running southward from the east. Yaoyorozu hated Azula even more, now that she ended up getting teleported to the same place with none other than Todoroki Shouto. It's a good thing Hagakure was with them to lessen the anxiousness she's been feeling by just being in Shouto's presence. She wondered if Azula already told him. She strongly hoped not.

They landed in the Landslide Zone earlier and already fought off a good, hefty number of villains that there were actually none left in a condition to fight further. However, the three of them received signals from Kaminari on their phones, for they were the ones nearest to the Mountain Zone, where he and Jirou supposedly ended up in. Kaminari's successful call out for help was out of dumb luck. He knew that communicating outside USJ was hopeless, so he tried to do it within the area to ask for assistance once they were cornered and outnumbered by the villains.

Once they got there, Yaoyorozu and Hagakure made an opening for Shouto to stun the villains who cornered Kaminari and Jirou in surprise. Their two classmates were in the valley, while they were in the cliffs. Several villains on the lookout were already immobilized by both Yaoyorozu and Hagakure, the first with the nets she made from her creation quirk, and the latter with surprise attacks and her mastery in hand-to-hand combat. After that, they purposely snuck out towards a different position, so that all the villains were facing away from them.

"Thank you, Yaoyorozu-chan and Hagakure-chan." Todoroki smiled slightly as he knelt down on the edge of the cliff and placed his palm on the ground. A thick sheet of ice quickly radiated towards the valley down below, paralyzing the villains in an instant, and tapering off just before it reached both Kaminari and Jirou.

The two sighed in relief and ran to meet up with the other three, as they all intended to head back to the Central Plaza to help the others.

* * *

Back at the Central Plaza, after witnessing Aizawa-sensei take numerous fatal blows from the weird creature they heard the villain just called Nomu, Tomura started to head towards their way.

Tomura's palm was about to close in on Tsuyu's and Mineta's faces, but the other three were petrified and couldn't respond in fear. Azula was the only one who didn't appear to be bothered by any of this. Instead, she saw an opening. Before Tomura's hand made contact with Tsuyu's and Mineta's faces, she grabbed his forearms in a flash and shocked him with electricity. As a result, Tomura screamed horrendously in pain and slumped down to the ground due to the transient paralysis. In efforts of rendering him further immobilized, Azula proceeded to sit on his back and stepped on his hands as she subsequently yanked his hair up.

She leaned in closer to his ear and whispered, "Gotcha."

As if the three of them weren't dazed enough already, Midoriya, Tsuyu, and Mineta were all stunned again with Azula's display of power. They were both relieved and terrified at the same time.

Tomura gritted his teeth and seethed as he managed to call his other pawns for help, "Tsk. You two rascals out there! Make yourselves useful!"

"Finally. I thought they're just gonna use us for special effects a while back." Taemi sighed and looked sideways towards Anji with a devious smile on her face.

Anji glanced back at her with the same expression as he airily said, "You know, things would've ended by now had the boss let us come out to play sooner."

Taemi and Anji both came out from their hiding at Tomura's command. It turned out that they were just underneath the floor of the Central Plaza the whole time, waiting to attack at Tomura's signal. In a matter of seconds, the ground underneath them shook again, making Azula loosen her restraint against Tomura, which eventually set him free. In return, Tomura counterattacked Azula by gripping both her forearms tightly, making it decay as he used his quirk with pleasure.

While Azula and Tomura went head-on with one another, Midoriya and the others fought off against Taemi and Anji.

Azula stared at her forearms. "What nice quirk you have there." She told Tomura with a feigned awed expression before she told him apathetically, "Why don't you just do me a favor and end my life right here, right now?"

"Huh?" Tomura uttered in confusion as Azula's remark caught him off guard.

Azula smirked mischievously as she watched a large bulk of her forearm skin wither slowly, "You're not the real boss here, are you? I can see it in your eyes."

"What the fuck are you talking about? You're just a student, your life is insignificant so I'd be happy to kill you on the spot." Tomura countered as he grew more irritated within every second. He thought that this brat was even harder to deal with than his very own sister.

After finally coming up with a strategy as she toyed Tomura with her words, Azula smiled in return and told him, "Aren't we all, villain? Aren't all lives here on Earth insignificant?" With that, Azula made the first move and expelled a stream of blue fire from her mouth, which made Tomura's grip from her forearms loosen. It was a good thing that a stone hand covered Tomura's face. Otherwise, he'll be receiving at least a second-degree burn on his face from the excessive heat of Azula's blue fire. The ends of his hair on the front were pretty much singed though. At the same time, while Azula attacked Tomura, an explosion that came from the side flashed before her eyes as the final blow, throwing the villain harshly to the ground. She looked at the source of the explosion. There was an irked expression written on her face the moment she found out who it was.

"I had everything under control here, you know? What a show-off. Tch." Azula scoffed as she walked past Bakugou and Zuko to help Midoriya, Asui, and Mineta, who are now with Kirishima, to fight off Anji and Taemi.

"Your forearms, Asaki!" Zuko pointed out with his eyes wide open in shock. The second layer of skin on Azula's forearms was already exposed. There were patches of red among her now pink forearms due to the ruptured capillaries. Although her condition wasn't that as worse as Aizawa-sensei's.

Azula waved him off, "It's fine. I can handle myself." It wasn't a lie though. Thanks to the damaged nerve endings from the burn caused by their mother, she couldn't actually feel any pain from what Tomura had inflicted upon her.

"Just stay still, you hard-headed freak! You're injured, dammit!" Bakugou scolded as he prevented Azula from going anywhere near the battle scene by grabbing her arm from behind.

Azula stopped in her tracks and looked back with one eyebrow raised. She scoffed, "Hey, Kacchan. What are you, my brother?" She yanked off his arms away and continued to walk towards where Anji and Taemi were.

"Hey! Could you just listen for once?!" Zuko tried to stop her too, but his plea fell on deaf ears.

Azula couldn't hear anything at all. She never felt so determined in her life. They wanted to be heroes? Then she'll be one. No matter what it takes.

A few moments before he was attacked, Tomura caught a glimpse of Azula's golden eyes that were filled with what he identified as bloodlust. Bloodlust. He questioned her status as a hero student, was she really even one? How could a person so young, calculating and conniving be a hero student? He found it bizarre, her unconventional portrayal of heroism. Kurogiri came to his rescue and guarded him, his companion said, "All Might didn't even come and yet these kids are taking control of the situation."

"Shut up, Kurogiri. If we die, then we die. I realized that we didn't even have to kill All Might. You see, the Symbol of Peace doesn't have to be tangible, it doesn't have to be All Might. It could be the very lives of these future heroes. We'll try to kill and injure at least several of them. What's important is that we dismantle that Symbol of Peace and witness all hell break loose when All Might blames himself for the casualties. Now that sounds very exciting." Tomura argued as he grinned underneath the stone hand that concealed the majority of his face.

The two villains intently observed as chaos ensued down the Central Plaza. All students dispersed by Kurogiri earlier were occupied and involved in a fight against their stronger pawns. Nearly all the minor villains were already defeated, and these remaining three: Nomu, Taemi and Anji were their last line of defense.

It was technically "game over" already. Tomura was well aware of the fact that a certain student managed to slip under Kurogiri's nose to ask for help. But he still hoped that more students get hurt. It wasn't that a far cry because after all, they managed to severely injure the professors.

Tomura watched in awe as the green-haired kid managed to punch Nomu with maneuvers that resembled All Might's. After Midoriya's attacks did nothing against Nomu, other kids stepped right beside of him. What happened next was beyond unimaginable.

Katara told everyone, "Keep attacking him! I'll try to control his blood so that he wouldn't be able to regenerate." She thought that the amount of blood in that creature was immense, but Katara treated it as a challenge to further improve her skills. Since blood flow was vital to regenerate body parts, she postulated that stopping it would hinder the healing process too. So while she bloodbended Nomu, Midoriya, Kirishima, and Sokka delivered several blows against the creature. She hoped her plan would eventually work out to defeat the monstrous creature.

Both Kirishima and Sokka hit Nomu nonstop, while Midoriya attacked intermittently since he was still getting a hold of his quirk. Although his first punch earlier didn't injure him, it was still better to take precautions.

* * *

Just a few meters away from Nomu, the newly arrived Yaoyorozu, Shouto, and Jirou began fighting against both Taemi and Anji. Kaminari and Hagakure headed back to the entrance to assist the others. Asui and Mineta tended to Aizawa-sensei who was heavily injured and unconscious. While Zuko, Azula, and Bakugou were up against the Warp Gate.

After fighting up against the other students earlier, who were now fighting against Nomu, Anji re-activated his quirk again to attack the new arrivals. His eyes and tattoos glowed as thick clouds formed at the very top of the USJ's high ceiling. Toph used her earthbending as she sent huge blocks of cement as an offense, to which Jirou effectively shattered with her sonic waves.

Thanks to the technique Katara taught him, Shouto turned the raindrops into shards of ice and sent them hurtling back towards their opponents. As their attack retaliated on them suddenly, leaving no time to defend themselves with their quirks, both Anji and Taemi instinctively covered themselves with their forearms as they twisted their trunk the other way to protect their upper body. Seeing an opening right in front of her, Yaoyoruzu simultaneously proceeded to use her quirk as an opportunity to wrap things up. She created an adhesive net and aimed it towards Anji and Taemi, finally capturing them.

Meanwhile, Azula, Zuko, and Bakugou's explosive attacks were able to do significant damage against Kurogiri. Soon, Bakugou was able to expose Kurogiri's weakness. He held him down as he elaborated what he figured out from his analysis, "If physical attacks really don't work on you, then the word 'dangerous' wouldn't have come out of your mouth from the moment we attacked you earlier. It turns out you were just hiding your body all along with that black fog of yours."

"Turns out you're not really dumb after all, Kacchan." Azula teased.

"Shut up!" He shouted and sent a death glare towards Azula before he looked back at Kurogiri who slightly flinched. He menaced, "Don't move, idiot! Even the smallest amount of suspicion would not make me hesitate to explode you!"

"Yeah, I'm definitely surrounded by people who act like they're not heroes." Kirishima sighed as he eyed both Azula and Bakugou while he took a short break from attacking Nomu.

Zuko couldn't help but agree, Azula was getting hard to handle again, he told Kirishima, "Yeah. Tell me about it."

Zuko joined the other four in attacking Nomu as he thought that both Azula and Bakugou have everything under control already against Kurogiri. He proceeded to send blasts after blasts of his signature blue-violet flames against the so-called "powerful" creature, who is now successfully tamed by them. They were now only attacking as they waited for the creature's demise.

Tomura scratched his neck in irritation as his plans were foiled by these insolent pests, "Looks like we're caught in some terrible quicksand, Kurogiri. This is bad, real bad. Even Nomu is being controlled by these overpowered freaks. Kids these days are sure stronger, don't you think, Kurogiri?"

"Just shut up and help me here!" Kurogiri cried.

"If you insist." Tomura calmly replied as he charged towards his main target: Azula.

Azula thought that now's the time to use her other quirk. She prevented Tomura from going anywhere near her as she sent beams after beams of forcefield against him. He was sent flying across the ground every time he ran and tried to get near her. He actually looked pathetic in Azula's eyes and it was totally frustrating on his part. He made sure he's going to get his revenge soon. He never expected a U.A. High student to get on his nerves this much.

* * *

It was two hours before noon. The Class 1-A were fighting for their lives at USJ, while Class 1-B had no idea on what's going on at all back in the main building, except for one person. Mai was playing with her knives while Ty Lee was randomly reading everyone's Aura as they waited for the next professor to enter their classroom.

Everyone was synchronously using all of their quirks at once, and somewhere far away, a portal opened directly on top of Mt. Fuji. A few seconds after that, a loud crash preceded All Might's entrance in USJ and everyone momentarily stopped using their quirks as they froze in disbelief. With that, the portal flickered before it completely disappeared without a trace.

Even if it only lasted for a few seconds, several tourists were able to capture photos and videos of it. This immediately caused and spread panic across the country as the images and videos were uploaded on the web in a single click. Without his knowledge yet, this is what Tomura would've wanted even if he only caused this indirectly: dismantling their peace. But now, he was given another chance to destabilize it further, now that All Might had just arrived.

But that was before he heard cheers coming from the students. He subsequently realized that those weren't meant for All Might's arrival. They were cheering because they were able to defeat Nomu, a creature designed to kill the strongest hero alive, without even All Might's help.

How in the world did that ever happen?

Katara was right, stopping his blood flow prevented the healing process and messed with the Nomu's shock absorption. She panted and sat on the ground with an audible thud as she let her body finally rest. She wouldn't have done this alone. She still couldn't multitask when she bloodbends. So without the help of others, the bloodbending would only immobilize the Nomu, not kill it. Another is that she had a pretty hard time controlling a huge amount of blood that it drained her stamina completely. After contemplating their success, she proceeded to finally lie down on the ground due to exhaustion.

"You good?" Sokka checked up on her.

"Yeah... I just... wanna rest." She replied in between breaths.

They needed to escape as fast and as soon as they can. While All Might scoured the entire arena to defeat residual minor villains, Kurogiri enveloped Bakugou with black fog in surprise and transported him somewhere else to finally set himself free. He quickly engulfed Tomura, as well as the two rascals nearby.

Both Zuko and Azula saw this coming, they both did a fire punch towards their direction, streaks of blue and dark purple fire intertwined as their attacks merged into one. Unfortunately for them, the villains managed to escape in a blink of an eye before the fire made full contact. Although their attack was able to sear a good amount of Tomura's shirt, even after they were already teleported back to their hideout.

The other pro-heroes soon came into the picture, but it was too late because everything seemed to be already under control. Instead, they just focused on taking the remaining villains within the area into custody. Aizawa-sensei, No. Thirteen, Midoriya, and Azula were immediately tended to and eventually taken into the school's infirmary to be treated by Recovery Girl.

Zuko, Shouto, Iida, and Kirishima proceeded to look for Bakugou after he was dispersed somewhere else before the villains escaped. It turns out, he was teleported to the Ruins Zone. Their botched training session soon ended and they were escorted outside to safety. The officer in charge did a headcount to ensure that everyone was there and that no one got lost or kidnapped by the villains. All Might was with them all the way back towards the main school building, he felt guilty and blamed himself for not arriving on time. He wanted to make up for his honest mistake. He proceeded to visit the infirmary, where two injured students and two severely injured professors were currently being treated.

Although her injury was nothing minor, due to the second layer of skin on her forearms being exposed and due to ruptured small blood vessels, Azula received the least serious injury among the four. As for Midoriya, he broke his limbs again by going up against Nomu. It appeared that his first punch against the other villains without getting injured was just out of dumb luck. On the other hand, both Aizawa-sensei and No. Thirteen were still unconscious and recovering.

Azula was weirded out by how Recovery Girl treated her, but she couldn't deny the fact that her injuries actually got a lot better afterwards. Her forearms were then bandaged and she was soon sent home.

* * *

Zuko and Shouto both waited for Azula to be released from the infirmary. After she got out, Zuko immediately berated her with utmost concern, "Why do you have to be always so... violent? Going head-on against a villain by yourself? Have you lost your mind?!"

Shouto silently watched the two argue from behind as he thought, "Here we go again."

"Come on, Zenkie. I really wasn't losing it, okay? I'm just putting my fucked up personality into good use against the villains. It tricked their fake boss quite well back there and caught him off guard." Azula defended herself.

"Fake boss? That light-blue haired guy? How could you tell?" Zuko asked back.

"I used my common sense," Azula answered him first and realized that she might've sounded too condescending. She quickly changed her tone and facial expression into a more mellow one before she continued explaining, "I mean, someone higher up must be pulling all the strings. The attack was so well planned, you know. And of course, if your intent was to kill All Might, the strongest hero on the goddamn planet, you wouldn't let yourself get exposed easily just like that. Well, come to think of it. When you're playing chess, which one goes first? The pawns."

* * *

Mai was locked up in her own room after class as she studied for an upcoming quiz. Her momentum in studying was abruptly ruined as Tomura kicked the door open.

Tomura angrily demanded an answer, "That red and white haired freak, is she your friend? Who the hell is she?"

Mai raised an eyebrow, what did Azula possibly do to her brother to provoke him that way?

"Asaki? Kind of. Yeah. Why did you ask?" She answered him and asked back.

Tomura calmed himself down by taking a deep breath before he elaborated, "Being a hero doesn't fit her that well, don't you think? She's more deserving to become a villain. I wonder what will happen if she suddenly comes to our side?"

"What makes you say that?" Mai responded with another question.

"I want you to get closer to her, find out every information necessary about her. I want to have her fight for the League of Villains, as it should be."

That. Now that was the last thing Mai ever wanted to hear. Even though she mocked Azula for going to U.A. and her desire to become a hero, her ex-friend turning into a villain with her now heightened powers is the last thing she ever wanted to happen. She wondered how is she going to deal with this situation she's been caught up in without putting in the risk of Tomura noticing her treachery. Also, what is Tomura going to do once he finds out that Azula is Endeavor's child? She conceded with a tired groan as she lied to him, "Yeah, whatever. Now leave me alone. I'm studying."

"Don't fuck things up now, you little brat. Your recent missions reek of nothing but failure. I'm expecting more from you." Tomura warned as he went out and banged the door closed behind him.

Mai sighed as soon as he left. What is she even doing? She was studying in a hero school and yet she was working for a villain. She was still well aware about the cause though, she only studied in U.A. as a part of Tomura's plan to usurp the Symbol of Peace. She felt conflicted. Everyday she reminded herself of who she was, that the Mai from her previous lifetime wouldn't approve any of this. She remained patient, however. It was sure hard being a double agent.

* * *

Today, two breaking news shook the entire world. One is the attack earlier at U.A., and another was the portal that appeared at the peak of Mt. Fuji. More than that, everyone couldn't believe that both phenomena occurred in the same country, and at the same time. There was growing unrest among the people, fear instilled in their hearts as their sense of peace slowly began to crumble. Tomura grinned all throughout as he watched from his television. The heroes could only do so much, what is going to happen to them now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think? Personally, my writing is kind of subpar in this chapter because of how challenging it was to write action scenes. I also didn't want to make you guys wait that long. My mistake is inexcusable though, so I humbly apologize and I'll strive to write better next time!


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